Overview
- Flippy is an AI robot that can grill burgers with astonishing efficiency
- It was created by Miso Robotics and is being used by CaliBurger
- Trained on data about kitchen equipment, grill temperature and object detection
Introduction
Is AI going to take over the kitchen and displace a chef’s role?
In another incredible development, a robot called Flippy is being employed at CaliBurger, a restaurant in Pasadena, that can cook burgers at an ultra-efficient speed and quality. The reviews so far (of the food) have been overwhelmingly positive.
Using thermal vision, 3D and computer vision, and machine learning algorithms, Flippy was created by Miso Robotics and has been trained how to cook and handle the burgers. The deep learning model was built using data about kitchen equipment, the temperatures the grill can heat up to and what the ideal temperature is for cooking the burgers. When the kitchen works put the patties on the grill, Flippy is able to detect where they are.
Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG
The above burgers were all made by Flippy in a recent demonstration. The robot also manages to clean the spatula used for cooking and wipes the surface of the grill when a batch has been produced.
The end result? The burgers are never over or under-cooked. This not only maintains the consistency in each product, but improves the quality of the food and ramps up the efficiency of the restaurant.
Check out the below video for a demonstration by Flippy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW1mQtJaypU
Our take on this
Thanks to machine learning and AI, we have been seeing changes in the food industry recently (case in point, Amazon’s Go store). Restaurant owners have long complained that it takes time and money to train chefs, so this will be a welcome addition to their armoury.
But will technology like this take over a chef’s job in the future? It’s tempting to answer yes at this moment, but the nuances of the culinary field are diverse so we will have to wait and watch.
What is your take on this? Do you think technology like this should be allowed? Let us know in the comments section below!
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Senior Editor at Analytics Vidhya.Data visualization practitioner who loves reading and delving deeper into the data science and machine learning arts. Always looking for new ways to improve processes using ML and AI.
There is a saying food tastes good when you cook with Love & Affection. Can Robots can emit that!. At least my thumbs down if it is at the cost of chef's Job.
We'll have to try the food before we can judge the AI. :)
It is obvious to me that technology like this should be, must be and will be allowed. At least the venture owners will reclaim such kind of things. And as things will go, they will become common and contribute to human well being. The main problem, I think, is the human unemployment that this could lead to. We don't know with precision the tradeoff between human-like robot integration and new created human jobs, for those who will be replaced by robots. But for sure we will have newly available jobs for humans, if they grab required skills (let's consider lifelong learning option).
here is a saying food tastes good when you cook with Love & Affection. I will have to try the food before we can judg.