IoT sensors and artificial intelligence are the keys to a new generation of robots that are transforming the culinary world

The world of kitchens and gastronomy is slowly but finally being redefined, in the heat of innovative technologies. With the help of robotic arms, integrated sensors, optical cameras and improved artificial intelligence technology, a new breed of robots is emerging that are fundamentally designed to multitask in the kitchen, executing the actions and movements of people and kitchen professionals. in real time.

Everything indicates that this occurs in a context where the global number of smart homes could be around 478 million in 2025  while it is estimated that the world human population will reach 8 billion before the end of 2022. What this implies is that it will trigger an increase in food demand, pressure on the global food industry and a call to consumers for better and more sustainable food quality, a context where technology can definitely collaborate.

“Robot chefs” or robots focused on the kitchen have touch, contact and proximity sensors to record tasks and capture movements, being able to monitor more than 1,200 parameters every microsecond. All the information captured by the sensors is sent to their operating systems that create a learning cycle similar to that of a human being. With the help of these features, they can automate many kitchen tasks and learn new skills. 

In addition, the data set with which they are trained allows them in some cases to know recipes, know when it is necessary to replace ingredients, and measure quantities.

The benefits of these technologies for the culinary world are many. These robots can solve the problem of lack of staff in most restaurants, fast food and high-volume kitchens. At the same time, they can complement or take over the repetitive and serial work of humans, reducing costs and improving the customer experience. 

In parallel, by dispensing the ingredients needed for each meal, “robotic cooks” help reduce food waste and costs by eliminating human error that arises from overestimation. Additionally, they contribute to sustainability because they can monitor and control the environment of food storage containers to prevent spoilage of ingredients.

Moley Robotics for example acts as an autonomous AI system that can automate virtually all parts of the cooking process. It is a ceiling-mounted device that works in conjunction with a complete smart kitchen. With its two arms, it slides along a rail and can adjust the temperature, wash, mix and pour ingredients into pans, as well as stir pots, managing to cook more than 5,000 meals at a time and clean up when finished.

The Barista Coffee Robot from Rozum Robotics, for example, consists of a coffee station equipped with the best brewing devices and a robotic arm designed to prepare any cup of coffee and can create up to 400 cups of specialty coffee in 12 hours.

Flippy Wings is an autonomous robot designed to fry chicken wings in restaurants, it features an AutoBin system that includes secure food containers where restaurant staff can leave food for cooking. The integrated AI vision identifies the food and the robot picks it up, cooks it and then places it in a hot holding area. It manages to increase the speed of food production between approximately 10% and 20%.

Pizzaiola is a fully autonomous seven-axis robotic chef that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to prepare up to 50 pizzas per hour. Chippy, for its part, is the Chipotle chain's robot in charge of making tortilla chips in seconds thanks to integrated cameras, motors, sensors and computer vision algorithms.

Overall, the golden age for technological advancement in the food industry appears to have arrived. What is coming will be higher levels of complexity and with it, greater rigor in the management and training of the data with which the robots are programmed. Researchers at the University of Cambridge are working on robots with chewing capacity and improved taste receptor sensors to have the five basic modalities of tastes and that can better integrate this data into their operating system, in order to ensure new functionalities and innovations that make it even more similar to humans in the kitchen.

Julio Cesar Blanco – March 22, 2023