Temperature estimation of cooking vessel content via EKF and sliding mode observers in induction cooking systems

The problem of estimating the thermal state of an induction cooking system is analyzed. The first step is to model the thermal system composed by the cooktop, the pot, and the pot content. Then, by relying on the formulated model, the aim is to design a suitable state observer, so that an estimation of the temperature of the cooking vessel content can be made online. Two kinds of observers are proposed. An Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and a Sliding Mode Observer (SMO). A comparison of the performances which can be obtained with these two solutions is then made by relying on experimental results obtained on a real induction cooktop heating a pot containing a certain quantity of water.