SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the Could-I-Please-Have-My-Robot-Medium-Rare? dept.
Technology Review reports on a startup restaurant https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611788/engineering-lunch/ that features specialized robots to assemble ingredients and wok-fry them for healthy fast food.
As customers placed their orders, Spyce's automated food storage bins (known as hoppers) reliably fed refrigerated ingredients through a portioning system that measures precise quantities into a red box that zips along a horizontal track. That box, called the runner, collects ingredients and delivers them to one of seven induction-heated woks that spin to tumble the food so it cooks evenly at 450 °F. ...
The development process had some low points,
Even so, their cooking robot was still a work in progress. That fall, it dumped half-cooked food straight onto the counter in front of a potential investor. One outcome of that fiasco: each of the restaurant's automated woks now has a sensor telling it whether there's a bowl underneath.
These MechEs recognized that they might not know much about the restaurant business,
Even as they were perfecting their automated kitchen technology, the founders knew they needed more than technical expertise to develop a successful robotic restaurant. So Farid got in touch with restaurateur Daniel Boulud, the chef-owner of multiple award-winning restaurants and author of nine cookbooks, by guessing his e-mail address in five tries—and the team ultimately convinced him to serve as Spyce's culinary director and invest in the concept.
Check out the link to see how they managed to make kale (reasonably) palatable...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @09:00PM (6 children)
It sucked more before, it sucks now, it will suck less later.
The improvements have and will be gradual and when it's passable it will not be noteworthy. When it is noteworthy it isn't passable.
(Score: 2) by suburbanitemediocrity on Sunday September 02 2018, @09:16PM (4 children)
Cooking is not rocket science. It's been done by robots for decades at factory scales.
If you know how to do it, most cooking is done in seconds of interaction time with a bunch of waiting in between.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Monday September 03 2018, @03:05AM (3 children)
Ummm... where do we think "TV Dinners" came from? Does any of us believe a chef personally prepared these one by one?
Or did a chef instruct a machine how to do it, then the machine makes millions of them?
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Aiwendil on Monday September 03 2018, @07:43AM (2 children)
Unless you mean the specific brand but rather pre-made meals that just is popped into the oven/microwave oven I would think they are being made by the ingredients being prepared in bulk in big vats, then assembled in the belt-assembly-worker fashion, and then popped into commercial kitchen style ovens.
(Sorry for the un-subtitled swedish - gist and process is made clear by video alone) But here are two visits to a place that makes pre-made food:
Pies [youtube.com]
Lasagna [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 03 2018, @08:04AM
I was of the idea the TV dinner prep was more like a candy factory or bottling plant... the main reason humans were even around is they know what to do when things go wrong, and make sure no vermin hang around the plant.
Someone getting a bonus serving of mouse or cockroach in their dinner isn't gonna be a happy camper. We haven't quite developed sufficient marketing skill to make the customer think the free serving is something to cheer for... something for nothing...winning the lotto, whatever.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Monday September 03 2018, @09:23AM
Realised that people might misunderstand a thing here so I should clarify.
It is a thing of scale really. In the range between a few dozen and a couple of thousand (tens) units per day is where assembly style workers are best, they also are needed for things where robotics just isn't there yet.
However once you get past a couple of thousand units a day a fully automated conveyer belt assembly is prefered, for some things (like lasagna) the robots are quite simple but is space-consuming.
(Overall however, the complexity for making lasagna in a fully automated manner is roughly the same as the one for making bread in a fully automated manner, you only need a few more passes (one for each layer))
So while the biggest brands are fully automated most are assembly-line-workers (and quite frankly, a market as small as sweden (pop: 10 mil) doesn't warrant a fully automated plant)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @10:21PM
Also need to get inb4 it's burger time, G.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @09:13PM (2 children)
The queue is full of interesting stuff and I submitted this story less than an hour ago -- must be some kind of record for time from submission to front page?
Thanks martyb!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @11:49PM (1 child)
Yeah, as you said the queue is full of interesting stuff. While here we have a meh -- so much for the $15 minimum wage.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 03 2018, @12:20AM
Software QA companies pay $15 an hour for robot testing, so there's your minimum wage. You can pretend you work in the tech industry, but you're not allowed to see the code inside the robots.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @09:21PM (1 child)
The robots will hunt you down if you don't leave a big tip, give the restaurant a positive review, and sign up for the loyalty card.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday September 03 2018, @01:47AM
And if you send the food back to them for further cooking because it is not up to your standards, they will ejaculate gear oil into it out of spite.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday September 02 2018, @09:25PM (8 children)
Somehow, I was hoping for it to be a robotic soup kitchen. Coming soon?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @09:34PM (3 children)
The robotic soup kitchen only serves young rich bros in the cafeterias of tech companies that are busy automating the process of hoarding money. The poor, the homeless, the jobless, and former tech bros who got old do not deserve to eat and should just die already.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @10:45PM (1 child)
It's almost as though we need a socialist revolution before technology will mean wealth for the common person.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 03 2018, @02:59AM
socialist revolutions have never helped the common person in the long run.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by anubi on Monday September 03 2018, @03:02AM
And I have already been drinking robotically prepared coffee for most of my life!
I just loaded the machine... it woke up in the wee-wee hours of the morning and brewed it.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @09:34PM (3 children)
Pretty cheap for a restaurant located in prime real estate -- the claim is USD $7.50 for a nutritious meal (not junk food).
Is there an analogy between a free soup kitchen and "the only price that works on the internet is free"?
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @10:22PM (2 children)
If the meal is free, you are the food.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Sunday September 02 2018, @10:36PM
I'm stealing this one.
compiling...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @11:10PM
v▮r▮ m▮ ▮▮▮▮y
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Sunday September 02 2018, @09:33PM (5 children)
I was really hopeful for some useful tip on this as I have a child that is apparently addicted to the stuff and displacing useful food storage space in my refrigerator with it.
Sadly there is no such actual information in TFA
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @09:37PM (1 child)
There is a hint:
(Score: 4, Funny) by MostCynical on Sunday September 02 2018, @10:21PM
Seared kale is still kale.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Monday September 03 2018, @08:06AM (1 child)
Kale seems to be a leafy cabbage, so threat it as such.
This means that your best bet for finding regions able to cook it to perfection is korea and japan but europe also has lots of interesting uses.
The first things I would try doing with it are:
* Cabbage rolls
* As part of Kimchi (i.e: fermenting it after seasoning)
* Wok it (threat it as you would spinach leaves).
* Shred it, re-shred it, boil it, mix it in with minced meat and use in pies, lasagna, burritos...
* Shred it, re-shred it, mix it in with dough when making bread.
* Shred it, boil it, puree it, mix it in with pasta-dough and make another green pasta.
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Monday September 03 2018, @06:06PM
Ignoring Freud, it does and is the same family, but i would note that a Carolina Reaper https://www.pepperseeds.eu/media/catalog/product/cache/2/image/6231006839780215c5675ad11939ddec/c/h/chili_seeds_carolina_reaper.jpg [pepperseeds.eu] appears to be a sort of dried tomato also...
To me Kale has a nasty overpowering bitter flavor that I really don't care for that needs to be extracted to make it palatable. Prevailing wisdom appears to be to saute it in olive oil with pepper, lemon, garlic, butter etc. Same sort of things you have to do if you want to eat Carrot greens.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday September 03 2018, @04:00PM
Kale mixed in with other salad greens makes for a pretty tasty salad. Otherwise, it can also be cooked like Swisschard. Boiled / steamed and served with salt + lemon juice. Those are some simple ideas at least.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @09:38PM (8 children)
Won't appeal to millennials if there is anything except tofu and avocado involved. And speaking of millennials, how many bathrooms does the restaurant have? Can the robots take pictures to post on your instagram account while you are eating?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Sunday September 02 2018, @10:07PM (4 children)
Now, that's a business idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Insightful) by MostCynical on Sunday September 02 2018, @10:27PM (3 children)
Is it a selfie if a robot took the picture?
People might even let the
companyrobot post to their social media accounts. Yay, permissive data mining might make this viable.."I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @10:29PM (1 child)
It's a selfie if the camera is attached to your chopsticks.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Sunday September 02 2018, @10:43PM
Traditional: upskirt.
Now: up nose.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday September 03 2018, @12:17AM
That's the very business idea I was referring to.
Make a 'waiter robot', doesn't matter if it brings no real advantage to the consuming patrons, as long as they accept it and the restaurant owner is going to derive a... how should we put it?... 'steady stream of alternative income'.
May be a fad, but it may be good enough to sucker some crowdfunding campaigns along with some restaurants cattering for hipsters.
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 02 2018, @10:15PM
10478.
They're provided by a cross-promotional deal with the infinite contact-enforcing turtles.
(Score: 2) by suburbanitemediocrity on Monday September 03 2018, @03:02AM (1 child)
Interesting as avocado is very environmentally damaging.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 03 2018, @03:54AM
Guacamole is the Devil's vomit.
(Score: 1) by CZB on Sunday September 02 2018, @10:45PM
I don't know if its bad that restaurant-future makes most of the staff obsolete, or good because many restaurants currently run on abused, drug addicted, overworked staff being paid under the table.