Bluetooth LE induction hob and smart cookware enables cooking at precise temperatures

Nordic Semiconductor today announces that Sweden-based appliances manufacturer, ASKO AB, has selected Nordic’s nRF52832 Bluetooth® 5.2/Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) general purpose multiprotocol System-on-Chip (SoC) to provide the wireless connectivity for the ‘ASKO Celsius°Cooking™’ induction hobs. Alongside Nordic-powered smart cookware, the solution is designed for users to create dishes with precise temperature and timing control, thus eliminating challenges for home chefs such as overcooking and overboiling. 

The ASKO Celsius°Cooking platform comprises the induction hob integrating the nRF52832 SoC, the smart cookware—including a fry pan, chef’s pot, and probe—all with built-in temperature sensors, and two iOS and Android apps for use on a Bluetooth 4.0 (and later) smartphone. In addition to the temperature sensors, the smart cookware employs motion sensors enabling the system to enter low power mode for extending battery life. 

Bluetooth LE and proprietary RF

Each element in the solution is wirelessly connected via either Bluetooth LE or a proprietary RF protocol. This system is enabled by the multiprotocol support capabilities of the integrated Nordic RF technology including the nRF52832 SoC. Temperature information is relayed from the smart cookware to the user’s smartphone using the Bluetooth LE protocol, from where the ‘ConnectLife’ and ‘Hestan Cue’ apps can then be used to monitor cooking zones on the hob and follow the state of interactive recipes. The nRF52832 can also be used to wirelessly connect the hob to an overhead cooker hood using Nordic’s 2.4GHz proprietary protocol, enabling the hood to start automatically after the hob is activated, or allowing the user to, for example, change the hood fan speed from the hob. 

Nordic’s nRF52832 multiprotocol SoC combines a 64MHz, 32-bit Arm® Cortex® M4 processor with floating point unit (FPU), with a 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio (supporting Bluetooth 5.2, ANT™, and proprietary 2.4GHz RF protocol software) featuring -96dB RX sensitivity, with 512kB Flash memory and 64kB RAM. The nRF Connect SDK [Software Development Kit] is recommended for nRF52832 software development. The nRF Connect SDK integrates the Zephyr RTOS, supports applications using Bluetooth LE, Bluetooth mesh and Thread, and includes examples, Bluetooth LE profiles and driver support for all peripherals. The SDK also includes a migration of Nordic’s Bluetooth SoftDevice Controller from the company’s proven SoftDevices used with the nRF52 Series. The nRF5 SDK can still be used for development with Nordic’s S132 SoftDevice, a Bluetooth 5-certifed RF software protocol stack for building advanced Bluetooth LE applications.

Good memory allocation

“We selected Nordic solutions for our ASKO Celsius°Cooking products because of the quality hardware and generous memory allocation, which will allow us to implement additional features to future proof the solution via the Nordic SoC’s OTA-DFU [over-the-air device firmware update] capabilities,” says Marcel Hoefsmit, Lead Engineer, ASKO. 

“In addition to the highly useful nRF Connect SDK, example codes, reference designs, and technical information, we also greatly appreciate the support service provided by Nordic engineers.”

• About ASKO
• About nRF52832
• About Nordic Semiconductor