Wireless control and status monitoring for electric grill with current protection circuitry

1. An electric grill, comprising:

a heating element connectable to a voltage line and a neutral line;

a user input device for selecting an operating mode of the heating element;

a temperature probe to measure a temperature of the heating element;

a memory;

machine-readable instructions stored in the electric grill; and

a microprocessor to execute the machine-readable instructions to cause the microprocessor to:

estimate an ambient temperature at a location within a cook box of the electric grill spaced apart from the heating element, the estimation of the ambient temperature based on the measured temperature of the heating element;

use the estimated ambient temperature to determine whether a target temperature corresponding to the selected operating mode is reached; and

control activation of the heating element based on whether the target temperature corresponding to the selected operating mode is reached.

2. The electric grill of claim 1 , further including a wireless controller in communication with the microprocessor, wherein the microprocessor is to cause the wireless controller to wirelessly transmit the estimated ambient temperature to a remote device.

3. The electric grill of claim 2 , wherein the microprocessor is to execute the machine-readable instructions to cause the microprocessor to receive, via the wireless controller, a signal for controlling the operating mode of the heating element.

4. The electric grill of claim 3 , wherein the received signal is indicative of an “OFF” operating mode.

5. The electric grill of claim 1 , further including a ground fault detection unit configured to detect a ground fault error between the voltage line and the neutral line, the ground fault detection unit being in communication with the microprocessor.

6. The electric grill of claim 5 , wherein the microprocessor further includes a self-check pin for detecting a microprocessor failure.

7. The electric grill of claim 6 , wherein the microprocessor is to execute the machine-readable instructions to cause the microprocessor, in response to detecting an error condition, to store an error log in the memory, the error log to include a first error code associated with detection of a ground fault error condition, a second error code associated with detection of a microprocessor failure condition, and a third error code associated with detection of a current mismatch condition.

8. The electric grill of claim 7 , wherein the error log further includes an active time of the electric grill, a target temperature, and a measured temperature at the time of the error condition.

9. The electric grill of claim 1 , further including a display in electronic communication with the microprocessor, wherein the microprocessor is to execute the machine-readable instructions to cause the microprocessor to cause presentation of at least one of the measured temperature or the estimated ambient temperature on the display.

10. A method for operation of an electric grill, the method comprising:

accessing a selected operating mode for a heating element of the electric grill using at least one user input device of the electric grill, the heating element connected to a voltage line and a neutral line;

measuring, using a temperature probe, a temperature of the heating element;

estimating an ambient temperature at a location within a cook box of the electric grill spaced apart from the heating element, the estimation of the ambient temperature based on the measured temperature of the heating element; and

using the estimated ambient temperature to determine when a target temperature corresponding to the selected operating mode is reached.

11. The method of claim 10 , further including, in response to detecting an error condition, storing an error log in a memory, wherein the error log includes at least a first error code associated with the error condition.

12. The method of claim 11 , further including wirelessly transmitting the error log to a remote device.

13. The method of claim 10 , further including:

detecting a ground fault error condition using a ground fault detection unit connected to the voltage line and the neutral line; and

responding to the ground fault error condition by sending a signal indicative of the ground fault error condition to a microprocessor of the electric grill.

14. The method of claim 13 , further including using a self-check pin of the microprocessor to detect a microprocessor failure condition.

15. The method of claim 10 , further including presenting, on a display at the electric grill, the estimated ambient temperature.

16. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions, that, when executed, cause at least one processor of an electric grill to at least:

access a selected operating mode for a heating element of the electric grill using at least one user input device of the electric grill, the heating element connected to a voltage line and a neutral line;

measure, using a temperature probe, a temperature of the heating element;

estimate an ambient temperature at a location within a cook box of the electric grill spaced apart from the heating element, the estimation of the ambient temperature based on the measured temperature of the heating element; and

use the estimated ambient temperature to determine when a target temperature corresponding to the selected operating mode is reached.

17. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor, in response to detecting an error condition, to store an error log in a memory, wherein the error log includes at least a first error code associated with the error condition.

18. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to cause wireless transmission of the error log to a remote device.

19. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to:

detect a ground fault error condition using a ground fault detection unit connected to the voltage line and the neutral line; and

respond to the ground fault error condition by sending a signal indicative of the ground fault error condition to a microprocessor of the electric grill.

20. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the at least one processor to use a self-check pin of the microprocessor to detect a microprocessor failure condition.