Flippy loves the living wage

The Herald reports:

Self-service ordering kiosks are being rolled out at Wendy’s, McDonalds and other restaurants and fast food chains over the next few years. So I guess it’s just a matter of time until automation takes over the kitchen.

Actually . . . that time has come.

According to a report this week in TechCrunch, a fast-casual restaurant chain headquartered in Southern California, US, called Caliburger is installing robotic hamburger-flipping chefs in its Pasadena location and then plans to roll them out to its other 49 outlets around the world over the next few years.

Caliburger’s Pasadena location is conveniently located in the same town as Miso Robotics, a start-up that’s developed its hamburger flipping, “robotic kitchen assistant” called – not unsurprisingly -Flippy.

Flippy loves the living wage movement. The higher activists push minimum wage rates, the more jobs there are for Flippy.

Flippy is a robot, or more specifically a very specialized industrial 6-axis robotic arm that is bolted to the kitchen floor in front of a grill or fryer and has a “spinning spatula” that cooks the food. The unit receives data from thermal and 3D sensors as well as cameras and takes its orders through a digital ticketing system.

It is capable of grabbing and unwrapping food, keeping track of cooking time and temperature and then plating the food so that a human chef can add garnishes.

Flippy sounds like he has a great work ethic.