Roasting Coffee To Perfection Using AI

利用人工智能完美烘焙咖啡

REAL WORLD AI

真实世界人工智能

Roasting Coffee To Perfection Using AI

利用人工智能完美烘焙咖啡

Perfecting your favorite cup of coffee has gotten easier thanks to AI

借助人工智能可以让你最喜欢的咖啡变得更完美

If you’re a coffee lover, you may have wondered how your favorite cup of morning brew gets to taste so good.

如果你是咖啡爱好者，你可能会想知道在早晨冲泡咖啡是如何变得如此美味的。

There’s the skill of the barista, of course, and the caliber of espresso machinery involved.

当然，咖啡师的技术和意式咖啡机的质量是很关键的因素。

But there’s also the roasting of the coffee beans — getting this right makes a big difference to the taste of your morning cup.

但咖啡豆的烘焙也很重要，烘焙是否恰当会造成很大的差异，直接影响到杯中咖啡的味道。

Coffee roasting is a complex process that takes a fair degree of skill.

咖啡烘焙是一个复杂的过程，需要相当程度的技巧。

And it’s not easy to get a consistently good outcome amidst the hustle and bustle of a busy coffee roasting facility.

而且，在忙忙碌碌的咖啡烘焙工厂中，要获得稳定良好的出品并不容易。

That’s why Norwegian coffee roasting specialist — has been turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to get the best results.

因此，挪威的咖啡烘焙专家一直在致力于通过人工智能获得最佳结果。

In this article, we’ll look at the intriguing application of AI — and in particular tinyML — to roasting consistently good coffee.

在本文中，我们将探讨人工智能（尤其是 tinyML）在烘焙稳定烘焙优质咖啡方面的有趣应用。

The flavor is in the browning

褐变反应中的风味

Have you heard of the Maillard reaction (MR)? (apparently, it’s pronounced my-YAR)

你听说过美拉德反应吗？（显然，它的发音是my-YAR）

It’s an important part of cooking in general, the stage at which things start to brown. Think of browning onions, aubergines, steaks and potatoes, for instance.

一般来说，这是烹饪过程中重要组成部分，是食物开始变色的阶段。 例如，让洋葱、茄子、牛排和土豆变成褐色的过程。

And if you’re like a lot of people, right now you may be thinking “ yum!” — it’s the browning process that adds so much flavor to many of our favorite dishes.

如果你和大多数人类似，这时你可能会想：“好吃！” 这是因为褐变过程给我们喜欢的菜肴增添了许多风味。

So, what does the MR have to do with coffee roasting?

那么，美拉德反应和咖啡烘焙有什么关系呢？

Listening for that first crack

注意听第一爆

As it happens, managing how long the MR process takes place is one of the most important aspects of coffee roasting.

当听到第一爆后，控制美拉德反应发生的时间是咖啡烘焙最关键的步骤之一。

According to Guy Snead of Rounton Coffee, by extending the MR a bit longer you’ll get “a heavier mouthfeel and rich caramel notes”. Or, if you prefer a coffee with “inherently fruity qualities” and “pronounced acidity” you’ll need a shorter MR.

根据Rounton Coffee的盖伊·斯尼德的说法，把美拉德反应的时间延长一点，将会得到“更丰富的口感和浓郁的焦糖味”。或者，如果你喜欢有“本身的水果风味”和“明显酸度”的咖啡，就需要缩短美拉德反应的时间。

So, tracking the MR is fundamentally important to coffee roasting. And a key indicator of how the MR is progressing is when the first crack of roasting coffee beans occurs.

因此，把控美拉德反应对咖啡烘焙至关重要。而判断美拉德反应进展的一个关键指标是烘焙咖啡豆的第一爆何时出现。

The first crack is heard when water in the beans turn to steam, and as a result the beans start to ‘pop’ open, just like in popcorn.

当豆子里的水变成蒸汽时，就会听到第一声爆裂声，豆子会像爆米花一样“啪”地一声爆开。

Listening for the first crack is done manually by professional roasters, requiring constant attention to help identify the exact timing of the crack.

听第一爆的声音是由专业烘焙师人工完成的，需要保持注意力以识别咖啡豆爆开的准确时间。

Since it’s a manual process, consistency varies amongst roasters. It also takes valuable time away from the roasters’ busy schedule — since it requires dedicated attention — and limits the roasters’ ability to manage other tasks.

因为这是人工完成过程，不同的烘焙师稳定性也不同。这占用了繁忙的烘焙师宝贵的时间，因为这个过程需要全神贯注，并且限制了烘焙师处理其他工作的能力。

Automating the consistent and accurate identification of the first crack would be of great benefit to coffee roasters. And this is where AI can help.

自动调节稳定性和准确地识别第一爆将对咖啡烘焙师大有裨益。 这就是人工智能可以大显身手的地方。

Sample roasting coffee to perfection

完美烘焙样品咖啡豆

Roest specializes in sample roasting — the practice of roasting small amounts of green (raw) coffee beans to determine their specific qualities.

Roest非常重视样品烘焙：即烘焙少量生咖啡豆以确定其特定品质的做法。

Sample roasting is a vital part of the coffee supply chain. It provides exporters, importers and coffee roasters the information that they need to make sound purchasing decisions.

样品烘焙是咖啡供应链中至关重要的一部分。它为出口商，进口商和咖啡烘焙商提供合理购买所需的信息。

Given the importance of sample roasting, managing the roasting process carefully is paramount for establishing the quality of the batches from which the coffee samples are taken.

鉴于样品烘焙的重要性，细致控制烘焙过程对于确定咖啡样品所取批次的质量至关重要。

Roest is an award-winning manufacturer of sample roasting machines. Their machines are known for quality and precision, both of which matter for sample roasting, even more so than for everyday roasting for consumption.

Roest是一家屡获殊荣的样品烘焙机制造商。他们的机器以质量和精度著称，这两项对于样品烘焙来说非常重要，甚至比供日常消费所用用到的烘焙更重要。

And Roest have turned to AI to take their sample roasting machines to the next level.

而且，Roest将目光投向人工智能，把样品烘焙机提升到新的层次。

How AI helps with coffee roasting

人工智能如何帮助烘焙咖啡

As mentioned, identifying the first crack is an important part of the coffee roasting process.

正如前文所述，识别第一爆是咖啡烘焙过程的重要组成部分。

By partnering with another Norwegian firm — Soundsensing, an audio and machine learning specialist — Roest and Soundsensing have developed an automated solution for identifying the first crack with a high degree of accuracy.

通过与挪威一家音频和机器学习公司Soundsensing合作，Roest开发了一种自动化解决方案，用于高精度地识别第一爆。

Here’s how it works:

以下是工作原理：

Using a tinyML implementation, ie. running machine learning on tiny devices in an IoT (internet-of-things) framework, a small microcontroller is placed inside each coffee roasting machine

使用tinyML实现，即在物联网框架中的微型设备上运行机器学习，每个咖啡烘焙机内部都放置了一个小型微控制器。

The microcontroller includes a small microphone, with associated sound-sensing firmware, that listens to the coffee beans during the roasting process

微控制器包括一个带有声音感应固件的小型麦克风，可在烘焙过程中监听咖啡豆的声音。

A machine learning algorithm (neural network) that has been pre-trained to recognize and identify the first crack of the coffee beans with a high degree of accuracy is embedded in the microcontroller

微控制器中嵌入了经过预训练的机器学习算法（神经网络），可以高精度识别咖啡豆的第一爆。

At a pre-set time after identifying the first crack, the roasting machine automatically switches off and stops the roasting process

在识别出第一爆后预设时间，烘焙机自动关闭并停止烘烤过程。

This tinyML solution makes the roasting process fully automated and has the benefits of:

这个tinyML解决方案使烘焙过程完全自动化，并具有以下优势：

Freeing up roasting operators for other tasks

解放烘焙操作工，投入其他工作

Improving the consistency of the roasting process

提高烘焙过程稳定性

Maintaining standards, regardless of the skill level of individual roasting operators

不同烘焙操作工个体技能水平有差异，但是仍可以保持水准。

Allowing easier scaling up of the roasting process

扩大烘焙过程规模更加容易

Roest has been shipping this tinyML solution in their roasters since 2020.

自 2020 年以来，Roest 一直在他们的烘焙机中提供tinyML解决方案。

The future beckons for tinyML-acoustic solutions

未来发展趋势需要tinyML 声学解决方案

This type of AI application — using tinyML and acoustic technology for identifying the first crack in coffee roasting — is the first of its kind in the world.

这种类型的人工智能应用程序在世界上是首次使用（即使用 tinyML 和声学技术来识别咖啡烘焙中的第一爆）

And the possibilities for future applications of a similar kind are many and varied.

未来类似应用的可能性也会走向多元化。

Soundsensing is already involved in many areas of industrial machine monitoring through the use of sound. With AI and IoT-tinyML technology, the capabilities and deployment possibilities of such smart monitoring are likely to increase significantly.

Soundsensing 通过利用声音已经走入工业机器监控的许多领域。 借助人工智能和物联网tinyML 技术，此类智能监控的功能和部署可能性可能会显著增加。

In summary

总结

Coffee roasting is a complex process, a key part of which is detecting the first crack of roasting coffee beans

咖啡烘焙是一个复杂的过程，其中关键环节就是识别到烘焙咖啡豆的第一爆。

Sample roasting is a vital part of the coffee supply chain, in which valuable time and resources are dedicated to detecting the first crack

样品烘焙是咖啡供应链的一个重要部分，在这一过程中，人们投入宝贵的时间和资源来检测第一爆。

In a world-first, two Norwegian firms — Roest and Soundsensing — have developed an automated AI solution for identifying the first crack in the coffee roasting process, using tinyML and acoustic technology

两家挪威公司（Roest和Soundsensing）利用tinyML和声学技术开发了一种自动人工智能解决方案，用于识别咖啡烘焙过程中的第一爆，这在世界范围内还是首次。

This AI solution frees up roasting operators for other tasks and improves the consistency and accuracy of the coffee roasting process

人工智能解决方案将烘焙操作员解放出来从事其他工作，并提高咖啡烘焙过程的稳定性和准确性。

Roest has been shipping their award-winning coffee roasting machines with the included AI solution since 2020

从2020年起，Roest公司就推出了搭载人工智能解决方案咖啡烘焙机，并且屡获殊荣。

The future possibilities tinyML-acoustic solutions are significant, given the capabilities that can be deployed on AI-powered IoT devices

TinyML声学解决方案的未来有着巨大的可能性，因为它可以部署在人工智能驱动的物联网设备上。

Originally published at https://highdemandskills.com on July 5, 2021.

最早于2021年7月5号发布在https：//highdemandskills.com。