In case you were wondering, this is what a salad-making robot looks like (Source: Chowbotics)
They can’t instantly whip up an Earl Grey or pasta al fiorella like the “Star Trek” replicator, but robot chefs are having a moment.
Chef Robotics — a startup creating a robot to handle commercial kitchen tasks — just raised $7.7m, per TechCrunch.
Though the actual bot has yet to be revealed, Chef Robotics promises it will increase production and consistency, waste less food, and save restaurants money.
The news comes as restaurants across the US…
… are struggling to find workers. Demand for robot chefs also increased during the pandemic as businesses looked to decrease human contact.
Notable food names are testing out nonhuman labor:
- DoorDash recently purchased Chowbotics whose “Sally” robot preps on-demand salads and bowls
- White Castle expanded a partnership with Miso Robotics whose “Flippy” bot makes fries
What else can robots do?
A lot:
- The in-home Moley Robotic Kitchen can whip up 5k+ recipes and clean up, too (if you can afford the $335k price tag).
- Blendid kiosks can make 45 smoothies in an hour, which customers order touch-free through their phones.
- F&P Robotics’ “Barney” is a robot bartender that can mix cocktails and serve beer in hotels and bars. For good measure, it also tells jokes.
So, yeah, not quite “Star Trek,” but it’s progress nonetheless.
