DailyDirt: Robots That Ask, 'Would You Like Fries With That?'
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Robots are poised to take over a LOT of repetitive tasks that people are still doing because it’s been hard to get computer vision and robot arms to replicate some kinds of detailed work. Machines are getting a better quickly, though, and plenty of manual labor jobs could be eliminated in the near future. Automation isn’t quite ready to take over a huge fraction of the labor market just yet, but it might not be too long before no one will be able to joke about young kids looking for an unskilled job and upselling fries with a fast food order.
- A home-cooked meal could be made from scratch by a $15,000 robot in 2018 (brought to you by Moley Robotics). Do not get in this robot’s way… or else “to serve man” may have an undesired meaning. [url]
- Fast food might be prepared faster with a burger-flipping robot from Momentum Machines. A burger robot can churn out 360 burgers per hour and never ask for a raise. (But can it serve breakfast after 10:30am?) [url]
- McDonald’s is installing a few self-ordering kiosks to automate some of the ordering process at its restaurants. This isn’t exactly a new trend for retail establishments, but this might get a tad less appetizing when all fast food comes out of fancy vending machines. [url]
After you’ve finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
Filed Under: ai, artificial intelligence, automation, chef, fast food, food, kiosks, robots, vending machines
Companies: mcdonald's, moley robotics, momentum machines
Comments on “DailyDirt: Robots That Ask, 'Would You Like Fries With That?'”
Robot cook... meh.
Cooking isn’t the sore spot with me, it’s doing the dishes. If it doesn’t also handle the dishes completely (more than current dish washers), I’m not interested. My guess is, this means EVEN MORE to clean after it’s done.
Re:
Dishes? There aren’t any that need cleaning when utensils and containers can be made from inexpensive biodegradable materials. At this point its an engineering puzzle of how many different “meals” can be made with a limited selection of ingredient types. Likely to make the news will be a visible unit that lets you see a sandwich being prepared.
Also expect blatant lies about freshness and improved product quality. It may even deny service if it recognizes you. And if you think the machine won’t spit in your meal, just see if its mechanical lubricant passed medical safety standards or if it’s classified as an industrial product. Like the “food” it makes.
Well now we know what will be replacing all those lesser humanities and social science graduates.
As I see it, the technical problem with having a robot cook is that they (currently at least) can’t deal with random situations. Sure it can flip burgers on an assembly line or combine the ingredients for a meal, but what happens if the food isn’t in the location the robot expects, or the burner doesn’t come on when it turns the knob? Can it tell when food is cooked by analyzing the appearance rather than just cooking it for a set time period?
I have been a fan of robots ever since I was little and used to watch reruns of Lost in Space (I’m not quite old enough to have seen it when it first aired). I’ve always wished that I could have a personal robot that would do everyday chores. Scientists have made great strides in improving their range of motion, but artificial intelligence hasn’t kept up with the physical improvements. Sure there have been some improvements; Robots can now avoid bumping into humans and avoid falling off edges, they can use voice recognition to obey some simple orders, but we’re still at least decades off from being able to tell a robot to go into the kitchen and make a snack and have it be able to follow that order.