Automation in food prep is stepping up a gear in Seattle as two startups have served their own robotic creations to help cafés and restaurants. Artly, headed by CEO Meng Wang, created Jarvis to help make coffee for a café in the city’s central business district:
Jarvis moves slowly, yet meticulously, from one station to another to make a cup of cappuccino. Jarvis makes the espresso, pours the milk, steams the foam and puts it all together, topping it off with a carefully drawn foam leaf.
The result is a cup of cappuccino, ready to go.
What stands out about this cappuccino? Its maker. Jarvis is a robotic arm, not a human barista, at Artly in Pike Place Market.
While Jarvis is busy, a human staff focuses on interacting with customers, explaining the concept to newcomers and placing orders using a tablet.
And then there’s Picnic that offer “automated pizza made easy”:
[…] Another Seattle-based startup, Picnic, offers automation solutions for a staple of the American diet: pizza. Its food prep station can produce up to 100 pizzas in one hour using metered toppings.
Since Picnic was founded in 2016, its robots have assembled pizzas in many places, including Seattle’s T-Mobile Park and the Las Vegas Convention Center. The company has seen a growing interest in its robots. This summer, Picnic announced partnerships with pizzeria Moto’s West Seattle location and a Domino’s store in Berlin.
(via Seattle Times)