BurgerBots Doing The Jobs Nobody Else Wants To Do

There's a new fast-food joint where robots are doing all the work that humans aren't interested in, like burger assembly lines.

Credit: ABB

In Los Gatos, one of the San Francisco Bay Area's more affluent areas, a shiny new fancy fast-food concept has just popped up inside of one of its trendy upscale brunch spots - where BurgerBots are slapping out some tasty burgers for the masses - in 27 seconds, flat. These machines don't just stack US$18 all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun with surgical precision onto a QR-coded tray - they are claimed to make perfectly consistent burgers every single time. With zero attitude. No accidental hairs. No sick days.

But you can put the protest signs away. A full staff of humans is employed at the restaurant. NewAtlas reports that the bots only handle the burger production operation - from grinding the meat and griddling it up to tossing it onto a conveyor belt assembly line. They then assemble the ingredients and kick out a complete, ready-to-eat burger back to a human server to be dished out to a waiting guest. This allows the staff more time to interact with customers and create a less frenetic atmosphere.

ABB Robotics - where created the bot - surveyed 1,250 hospitality workers and found that two thirds actually want robots to take over boring, gross, and dangerous tasks, and a similar number were excited by the prospect of a robot making their job easier.

In the end, automation isn't necessarily about replacing humans, it's about upgrading the entire system.

Here's an explainer video...