Smart Cooling and Intelligent Inventory Management for Modern Kitchens
Background and Challenge
A leading Japanese OEM partnered with Tata Elxsi to advance its smart kitchen appliance capabilities through two key initiatives: developing a Unity3D-based kitchen simulation for realistic design testing, and enhancing its AI-powered refrigerator camera. The AI system, used in warehouse settings, struggles to accurately identify vegetables—especially those with similar shapes, cuts, or non-standard varieties—resulting in inefficiencies in inventory management and increased food waste.
The project faced diverse challenges: improving AI algorithm accuracy under real-world warehouse conditions; dealing with inconsistent internet connectivity, suboptimal camera angles, and outdated app versions; and developing a realistic, interactive kitchen simulation. The simulation needed to reflect Japanese kitchen layouts and handle complex runtime inputs, while operating under strict budget, technical, and operational constraints, all to improve reliability, reduce waste, and ensure seamless integration of smart features.
Scope of work
This project integrates simulation design, AI development, and iterative refinement to enhance a smart kitchen ecosystem, ensuring usability, accuracy, and operational efficiency. Key Deliverables include:
- Develop a Unity3D-based configurable kitchen simulation with detailed Japanese kitchen layouts, environment lighting, and three refrigerator types.
- Create 3D assets (vegetables, kitchen elements) using Maya, Unity, and Substance, supported by a local prefab library.
- Design and integrate an interactive UI/UX allowing users to configure kitchen scenarios, manipulate vegetable placement, and visualize outcomes.
- Train and refine machine learning algorithms to improve recognition of various vegetables, especially similar-looking or non-standard ones.
- Integrate AI with the simulation to test and validate performance under controlled conditions using runtime inputs like orientation, weight, and lighting.
- Deliver milestone applications and final simulation with placement/rendering features after incorporating user feedback and ensuring internet stability, camera optimization, and regular app updates.
Solution
The solution strategically integrates AI and simulation technologies to enhance vegetable recognition, improve inventory tracking, and enable realistic virtual testing in a kitchen setup. Key solution highlights are as follows:
- Developed an interactive 3D kitchen simulation using Unity3D, enabling realistic vegetable placement through physics-based modeling and real-time environmental adjustments.
- Integrated the AI camera system with the simulation to test machine learning performance in controlled virtual scenarios before real-world deployment.
- Implemented refined machine learning models to accurately identify a wide variety of vegetables, including those similar in shape, cut, or non-standard.
- Enabled image and video output generation from the simulation to support testing, validation, and presentation purposes.
- Optimized camera angles and ensured consistent internet connectivity to enhance real-time data capture and processing in operational environments.
- Applied regular app updates and feedback integration to continuously improve accuracy, reliability, and usability for warehouse inventory management.
Impact
Tata Elxsi’s solution created a significant impact for the client, a leading home appliance OEM, by blending design innovation with AI-powered functionality. The interactive Unity3D simulation enabled realistic testing of refrigerator designs, enhancing visualization and early issue detection. Simultaneously, the refined AI camera system improved vegetable identification accuracy, reducing food waste and improving warehouse inventory management. This human-centric, data-driven approach ensured better user experience and decision-making. The integration of AI and immersive simulation fostered a unique ecosystem, showcasing Tata Elxsi’s commitment to operational efficiency, innovation, and meaningful customer impact and ultimately helping the client streamline processes and drive future-ready product development.
