Increasing demand for contactless service during the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the application of restaurant robots. Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, a growing number of restaurants had begun to embrace robot to save costs. The pandemic has sped up the existing trend of restaurant automation. The robots have become an ideal choice of restaurateurs because on one hand, they can reduce labor costs and food safety risks, and on the other, the technology has developed to the stage that it can be used in the catering industry.
Robots have been making their way into kitchens nationwide as the technology becomes cheaper and finding workers becomes harder. The most common robot use are collaborative robots also known as cobot. Cobot can assist the hospitality industry stay afloat in these unprecedented times and help practice social distancing in the kitchen, maintaining safety and good hygiene.
From top-notch hotels to pocket-friendly food shacks, this pandemic has made its dent on countless businesses in the hospitality industry as people are rethinking what they once took for granted, and they are now filled with constant doubt regarding hygiene and safety guidelines followed by staff behind the ‘No Admission’ zone in restaurants. This instilled fear for hygiene has not only affected the sales of dine-in, but catering and food delivery services as well.
However, every disaster also begets innovations, and this pandemic is no different, having raised the necessity to look towards a more automated future, aimed at not only increasing efficiency, but also at eradicating issues regarding hygiene and safety guidelines. Indeed, many robotics companies, like Miso Robotics, Bear Robotics, Peanut Robotics, Knightscope, SoftBank Robotics and Makr Shakr, say they have seen huge spikes in inquiries for their robots since the pandemic hit.
Miso is getting 150 inquiries a week for its Flippy robot, said Mike Bell, CEO of Miso. Flippy uses artificial intelligence, sensors, computer vision and robotic arms to fry fast food, like French fries and chicken wings. Miso take innovating seriously. Compared to the original model, Flippy 2 (new model) requires even less labor to operate and is engineered to fry nearly anything. A compact, modular design makes it adaptable to even the tightest kitchen spaces. It comes with automatic dispenser from freezer or refrigerated storage for high-volume fried foods. The robot also can identifies the food, senses the oil temperature, and monitors the cook time.
Way back in 2020 before Covid-19 hits us, TM Robot has already started to utilized their robot in food industry. Not just cooking, the cobot helps in doing chores inside the restaurant and helps attending customer.
The application of cobots has proved useful in environments with special climatic or hygienic conditions. They work in environmental temperatures between 0 and 50 degrees Celsius and function in low-oxygen environments which would require complex equipment for human staff. The machines are hermetically sealed and provided with a smooth outer housing that collects almost no dust or deposits. As a tool, the robots helps to fulfill the specific requirements of the industry.
Source: Miso Robot, Forbes, UR, Techman Robot