What I would like to know is if we will ever have microwaves that stop the spinning plate in the same place that they started. It's XXI century, I want to take out my cup as easily as I've put it in.
Most microwaves I use (at home and work) have 30sec increment buttons so I always stick to 10 second increments and no, they don't end when they started.
Edit: I do see some that use 3rpm so those would always be backwards at 30 seconds. 50hz supply would also change the rotation speed. My turntable is very predictable at least, so i guess I'll take the personal win and go.
It's a pretty specific patent that says you delay the cooking by couple of seconds while spinning the plate to 'synchronize' the start and stop positions. There are more ways to do it so it would be fairly easy to avoid this patent. I don't know why it's not a standard feature.
It could easily be done, but would only work if: you don't stop the cycle manually by opening the door, or you are ok with the microwave quickly spinning your food (or liquid filled cup) to the starting position as soon as you do open the door.
when timer ends or stop button is pressed it should turn off microwaves but keep spinning until original position
when door is opened just stop everything immediately
This way you can stop the plate manually at any position but when operating microwave in the usual way you get the benefit of the cup always pointing the right way.
Have it calculate the amount of full rotations and round it down to the nearest whole number. Worst case scenario, your cup is static for 5–10 seconds before the microwave stops.
It would require variable speed motors and more complex chip and programming so it would be more expensive. Just spinning the plate at the same speed until it makes a full turn could be solved mechanically.
I mean, sure, but there are microwaves out there that measure the heat of food put in it to cook it automatically. I figure a variable speed to match an input time would be just a bit easier to accomplish than that.