Real-time monitoring and control of kitchen equipment using a TCP/IP IOT architecture

This thesis addresses the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies into advanced kitchen equipment, focusing on enhancing real-time monitoring and control capabilities. The motivation for the project stems from the rich food culture in Italy and the need for energy-efficient solutions in commercial kitchens. The project aims to develop a TCP/IP IoT architecture to enable remote monitoring and control of kitchen equipment, with the primary goal of optimizing energy consumption and reducing costs for end-users. The objectives involve extending the existing local management software to facilitate remote communication, creating a central server using .NET and C#, and developing a desktop application for chefs to monitor and control their equipment. The scope includes real-time data exchange, energy consumption monitoring, and control commands based on predefined thresholds. Limitations involve the lack of proactive measures to prevent threshold breaches and a rudimentary machine selection algorithm. Future work includes implementing higher cyber-security standards and refining machine selection for enhanced resource efficiency. The thesis is organized into six chapters. The introduction provides an overview of Coldline's history, international presence, and the sophistication of their "smart" kitchen devices. Chapter 2 presents a literature review on IoT, TCP/IP protocol stack, communication models, and security. Chapter 3 covers system design and implementation details. Chapter 4 evaluates the system's performance, and results obtained. Chapter 5 discusses problems encountered and suggests future implementations. Chapter 6 concludes the thesis, summarizing contributions and providing recommendations for future research.