
World's First Kitchen-Free, Robot-Run Fast-Food Restaurant - kode4fun
http://foodbeast.com/content/2012/11/16/heres-a-look-at-the-worlds-first-smart-restaurant-chain-kitchen-free-and-run-by-robots-2/
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jiggy2011
When I was a teenager the most popular part time jobs among my piers were
either working in a supermarket or at a fast food place.

Lots of supermarkets are starting to replace humans with self-checkouts and
things like this will probably become standard in fast food.

So how is a teenager supposed to fund his pot habit in 2020?

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mertd
In 2020, they will probably be able to grab some weed from the family pantry.

On a different note, I am curious to see how economy and society will shape up
once most low entry barrier jobs are automated.

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alwaysabove
It's a triumph that we're automating these kind of jobs. Why are we wasting
human talent on inane jobs like store checkout or junk food production? Every
person in one of those jobs is a wasted mind. If we could put those minds to
work on something meaningful think what we could achieve.

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crosbytho
There's a psychological and human aspect that some deem as positive that you
are overlooking. While some shun away from the human experience, it's
refreshing to head to an In-N-out burger and have well-paid smiling faces take
your order and serve you delicious food.

Sure you could automate that kid, but while trying not to be sappy, that's
another face you get to see during the day amidst a traditional day filled
with computers, iPads, and now according to this -- machines making our food.

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alwaysabove
I don't agree with this argument.

When I want to socialise with people, I'll go to a bar, my friend's house, a
coffee shop, etc. If I want a burger, I want to get issued with that burger
ASAP, without having to deal with someone who you may consider to be a nice
person, but I may consider to be a douche-bag.

If that well-paid smiling person didn't have to work at the burger place, she
might have something more interesting to talk about when we meet in a proper
social environment.

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jiggy2011
I find that having a face to face interaction with another human being at
least once a day makes you feel more human.

Sometimes I can go a few days to a week where me and my friends are all busy
doing things, I buy all my stuff from the self checkout or via amazon and
don't really interact with anyone.

Then when on friday night I go out to a busy party it feels like a shock.

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R_Edward
Not exactly kitchen-free, is it? You've got to have food storage areas,
produce washing stations, produce prep stations, garbage disposal, and even if
the actual grinding, cooking, and sandwich assembly functions are all
contained within the robot, you're still going to want to house that somewhere
out of reach of the general public, making that area a de facto kitchen.

I wouldn't worry too much about jobs--you're still going to need people to
wash, inspect, prep and load the produce, as well as the meat grinders and bun
burners. And there better be someone in there to disassemble the robot
periodically to give it a good thorough cleaning and reassemble it.

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Breakthrough
I agree, poor choice of title... That being said, a throughput of 1 burger
every 10 seconds is pretty impressive given the final product. By fast food
standards, maybe not so quick, but look at the ingredients they're using - I'd
argue they're actually _real_!

Also, I love the conclusion in the article - "After all, how 'gourmet' can you
get when your cuisinier is made of cold steel and plastic?" I don't know what
the author uses to prepare her food, but I guess gourmet somehow means I
should prepare my food with wood utensils over an open fire.

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skywalk
Highly suggested essay regarding food automation in the future:
<http://marshallbrain.com/robotic-nation.htm>

~~~
bmohlenhoff
Also by Marshall Brain, a somewhat-related thought-provoking short story about
a theoretical future where robots displace the minimum wage workforce:
<http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm>

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6ren
Interesting, you don't think of Krispy Kreme as making robot donuts.

Curious that Macdonald's, with so much careful specification of all processes,
hasn't done this, at all. e.g. fry/remove/salt fries. (though their standard
coffee is mostly automated). Macdonald's is so well-placed, I can only assume
it isn't actually cost-effective for them. Maybe it's worth it for Momentum,
for the PR? Or, by starting from scratch, they can make radical changes? Or,
it isn't happening? (it's just a "concept" so far).

Finally, Larry Niven wrote a short story about automated restaurants "Intent
to Deceive" (1968).

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ippisl
Macdonald's recently introduced touch screens as cashiers in europe. They
didn't do it in the u.s. .My guess is thy didn't want the bad PR. Maybe
similar motivations exist for lack of robots.

But maybe the simplest explanation is that big businesses are not very much
optimized for innovation, so it took a startup.

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Evbn
Holy wow that is chauvinistic. McDonalds is an incredible innovator in
efficient production of comestibles.

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codva
It sounds like they are a long way from actually operating a restaurant. This
is just speculative hype.

"Momentum Machines – the minds behind the burger maker — have expressed plans
to create their own “smart restaurant” chain, serving burgers made by their
own crime-fighting cooking robots. According to the company’s site, the
technology will provide “the means for the next generation of restaurant
design and operation.”"

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preinheimer
James Bolivar DiGriz will come along and make the first order for a porcuswine
burger I'm sure.

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shabble
ObRef: Automated fresh pizza vending machine:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7_lxiU8eLM>

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tshadwell
Interesting article, though the author's picture is definitely swearing at me.

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lazyjones
Robots in a restaurant benefit only the owner, not the customer (esp. when
they burn the burgers like in the pictures). When robots are able to cook
proper meals, they'll be in our homes to do so, because we'll want to save
time and money and not walk to the next fast-food restaurant.

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maratd
When it comes to computers, first they come big and bulky. They're not user-
friendly. They're industrial.

Yes, you'll have robots cook you a meal at home eventually. This is just the
first step. I don't want that massive thing in my kitchen. When it's tiny,
portable, and user friendly ... then it's fine.

> Robots in a restaurant benefit only the owner, not the customer (esp. when
> they burn the burgers like in the pictures).

I've had plenty of humans make me a shitty burger. The good thing about
machines is that once you tune them, they'll make the same exact burger, every
single time. That's a huge benefit to consumers. Now I won't have to eat
someone's bad day!

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lazyjones
> The good thing about machines is that once you tune them, they'll make the
> same exact burger, every single time. That's a huge benefit to consumers.
> Now I won't have to eat someone's bad day!

OTOH, the robots will ignore your complaints and never try to be friendly for
a higher tip ...

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maratd
> OTOH, the robots will ignore your complaints and never try to be friendly
> for a higher tip ...

No worries, my credit card company listens to complaints. And you know, those
are the best kind of complaints, because they get your money back.

In the end, robots will be extremely friendly ... because they have no sense
of "fairness" or self-interest ... only a programmed instruction to make the
customer happy or if things really get out of hand, to call the cops.

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ajmarsh
Wow it's McSwiney's from the Stainless Steel Rat books.

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kevinSuttle
HOLY Old Georgie, it's PAPA SONG'S.

