Because of 2020 and the coronavirus, the gastronomy business has been at a steady fall to this day. Specifically, because it’s hard to find willing workers. People that work in gastronomy like waiters and cooks are getting tired very fast mainly because of the low wages and the difficulty some customers pose.
A company called American Robotech saw an opportunity in the gastronomy crisis and in barely any time designed and build four different types of robots specifically made to aid restaurants. In almost no time restaurateurs saw the benefits of owning such robots. These machines have their benefits but they also possess drawbacks. As you can see the serving robots have no arms meaning that the customers themselves have to take their plates and put them back. This shouldn’t be a problem for small local restaurants or even fast food joints but this kind of service would not be welcome at high-end dining establishments.
The robots don’t necessarily have to be a replacement for traditional waiters, they could be a companion that would assist them with carrying plates and cleaning tables. The robots can make trips with more than 10 plates in one go which compared to a normal human being able to carry a maximum of four at a time would be of great help. As shown in the previous photo each robot has a different function and can be customized. For example, the pudu bot could be customized in a way that instead of trays it holds bins which are great for transporting large amounts of dirty dishes. These bots can be used however the buyer desires it as long as he’s willing to pay from 15 to 18 thousand dollars for one.
The robots have a battery life of 10 to 24 hours depending on how much you use them and use the same camera and radar system as autonomous cars, called the LiDAR system. It allows the robots to comprehend changes in the environment in real-time and to react to them.
Would you like to be served by one of these little helpers?
These are a very good idea! Especially in places like KFC when sometimes bins are too full or certain people don’t want to clean up after themselves. Workers can easily carry the plates and put them into the bins and this makes working faster for the employees. Problem is the way these may look in places. Even though the designs are smart they may give off a messy look.
Such a great idea.This frees people from the imposed obligation to pay tips to waiters. Moreover in case of todays day this robots decrease SARS-CoV-2 infecting rate.
It is very interesting, i know that in HUNGARY there are a coffee shop with robots, some peple is producing the product, while 5 robots is working like a waiter
That’s a great idea. I think that in the future in most fast-food restaurants we will be served by robots. It is much more profitable for restaurants to have this type of waiter. However, in upper-class restaurants clients, still will prefer to have a normal waiter that they will ask about dishes.
I’m quite torn. Waitering is one of those jobs, especially in lower/middle-tier restaurants, that is easily accessible for those who need flexible hours, but have no work experience, like students. Taking it away has a potential to cause a job crisis before new opportunities emerge. The very concept of a robot helping out with cleaning tables and carrying plates sounds promising, but the consequences of limiting easily accessible jobs have me worried.
In my opinion, it has pros and cons like everything. On the other hand, it’s a real frugality for the restaurants. On the other hand, those robots take away natural human contact which is also important when ordering food, you can have a captivating chat or sometimes tell a quick joke but with a robot, there will be just a cold order without any emotions involved. I know that in this case robots are not meant to substitute but that is surely the first step to this kind of future without human waiters