Spice it up
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info Anna Kaal

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Spice it up

The challenge

Long, but not very long ago we were still busy with cooking and preparing food for the whole day, but nowadays, the ready-to-eat/microwave meals are present in almost every supermarket. The general Dutchman is losing knowledge of spices or never learns how to use spices properly. One uses pre-prepared mixtures of spices or sauces instead. These mixtures often contain much salt and unnecessary preservatives. It would be much healthier and nicer to make spice mixes yourself. To make this a bit easier for the modern human, the intelligent spice rack is the solution!

The solution

Nowadays we are busy with many things and when we cooks, we usually prefer to be lazy over being tired, but it is still important to eat healthy and tasteful. The smart spice rack is a tool which can be used to make things easier and healthier at the same time. Many different spices can be placed in the rack and after having chosen the spice mixture you want to have, the smart spice rack automatically mixes it for you and is finished a few minutes later. You can place any spice you like inside the smart spice mixer. The types of spices are recognized by the spice rack and it adds the right amount of each spice to the mixture you chose. The mixtures can for example be set to 'X' different dishes, 'X' number of people, 'X' amount of spiciness or a predefined mixture of your own making. Extra mixtures can be uploaded and you can interact with the rack via a touchscreen at the front. Depending on the amount and type of mixtures that you want to be able to make, you can add more different spices (or even construct a two layer mixture). The spice containers can be taken from their holders if the cook would wish to add some more flavor afterwards. The mechanism consists at least of the following things: - (1) A control panel. - (2) An interface with information about the chosen spice mixture, the amount of people/vegetables/meat and the spiciness. Recipes or other cooking ideas can be shown as well. You could even include you own diet program/combined with your mobile phone if you would like that. - (3) A small balance to measure the weight of the spices and underneath a small basket which is used to gather the spice mixture. - (4) Spice containers - (5) A 'conveyor-belt' in which the spice containers can be placed. One small electromoter will drive the conveyor belt and another small electromoter will be used to transport the spices from the container to the basket. The benefits of this product are: - Healthier spice mixtures, because there have not been added any unnecessary preservatives needed. - It is easy, fast and very flexible. - You have the opportunity to share recipes, try new mixtures and learn about spices and healthy food. - It is better for the environment and cheaper on the long term because you don't have to buy pre-prepared-spice-mixture-sacks anymore.

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