

Meld: precision temperature control for your stove - mingfli
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/meld/meld-a-perfect-meal-every-time?ref=hero_thanks

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gwern
That's fairly neat. If I'm understanding it right, it's a mechanical dial-
turner which clips onto a stove burner's control, and is combined with a
digital thermometer which reports the current temperature in a dish on said
burner; the dial-turner targets a temperature in a negative feedback loop.

(In retrospect, I'm surprised we don't have 'smart' stoves which pair up with
dishes with thermometers built in to allow seamless temperature specification.
Would work very well with induction stoves, I think, since they can adjust the
heating on/off much faster than a regular gas/resistance-heating stove.)

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jonjenk
I'm one of the founders of Meld and I'm happy to answer any questions you
might have about our product or precision cooking and temperature control in
general.

We were as surprised as you that this doesn't exist already. A traditional
stove is an amazingly capable and flexible device. By adding some simple
smarts to the burner control it's possible to do amazing things.

Induction stoves are good, but you might be surprised to learn that gas is
even more precise. With gas you basically have infinitely fine control over
the flow of energy to the pan since a gas valve is a linear analog control.
Honestly, though, whether you have a gas or electric stove we can generally
keep temps to within one degree (F) of a given target.

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swamp40
Not sure I'd want that thing sitting on my stove overnight.

If you turn the knobs on my stove too fast, it skips the piezo ignition and
just starts spewing gas out.

Wouldn't surprise me if this safety issue has been what has kept other
companies out of this space.

But congratulations on their one day goal achievement.

If I may suggest an improvement, how about a manual "off" switch so people can
sleep more easily?

And maybe you could add a gas sensor to detect any problems, and try to turn
the knob off? And a loud alarm if that failed?

That could turn the product from a liability into an asset.

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mingfli
They require you to turn the stove ON first, and then take over from there, so
it bypasses the ignition skipping and "auto on" concern.

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swamp40
Yes, I saw that.

But what if that $2 processor makes a poor decision, rotates that knob on
accident and kills your family?

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jonjenk
I totally understand your concern. That's why we NEVER turn on the stove for
you. All modern stoves require you to push the knob in to move it from the off
position. The Meld Knob is mechanically incapable of defeating this safety
interlock.

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swamp40
Thank you for explaining. Is it possible to misadjust the collar when
installing, so as to accidentally defeat the safety interlock?

For instance, if you push in, then tighten down?

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jonjenk
I'm an engineer so when people ask if something is possible my honest answer
has to be that anything is possible.

Would you allow me to rephrase your question? I'd rather answer the question,
"What is the likelihood that the knob can be installed incorrectly or that the
mechanical interlock will fail in a way that would allow the knob to
unexpectedly turn the burner on when not intended?"

My answer to this question is that it would be EXTREMELY improbable that this
would happen. I say this for the following reasons. 1) The part of the knob
that allows the user to push the shaft inward to override the safety interlock
is a completely separate piece from the part that turns the knob; 2) Both of
these pieces are made of smooth, lubricious plastic such that it should be
very difficult to install the knob in a way that they would bind; 3) assuming
the user did install the knob in a way that made this possible it would be
very obvious to the user that things are not right; 4) the knob software is
written in a way that the knob will refuse to move from the off position
without physical intervention from the user.

What I've described is generally called a defense in depth approach. You put a
bunch of safety mechanisms in place such that all of which have to
simultaneously for a bad event to occur.

Hopefully that helps.

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swamp40
Thanks, JJ. Good luck, and congratulations on your day 1 funding.

