Meet Flippy, a Burger-Grilling Robot
March 9th, 2017Via: Tech Crunch:
Flipping burgers is a hot and greasy job. Slips, trips, burns and cuts are common hazards associated with the work. But global demand for burgers is tremendous. Top burger chains racked up more than $75.5 billion in annual sales in 2016. To help keep human cooks out of harm’s way while fulfilling our collective appetite for burgers, Pasadena-based Miso Robotics is rolling out a new “robotic kitchen assistant” called Flippy.
Miso Robotics CEO and co-founder David Zito said, “We focus on using AI and automation to solve the high pain points in restaurants and food prep. That’s the dull, dirty and dangerous work around the grill, the fryer, and other prep work like chopping onions. The idea is to help restaurants improve food quality and safety without requiring a major kitchen redesign.”
This is “good” labor replacing technology. Nobody really wants to be a hamburger flipper. And robots won’t spit on your food, or neglect to wash their hands after they’ve gone to the bathroom. Its when the gainful human employment opportunities are eliminated by technology that I get worried.