A robot which flips burgers has been put into use in a restaurant for the first time.
Flippy, designed by start-up Miso Robotics, began cooking hamburgers in Caliburger’s Pasadena restaurant on Monday. The worldwide chain plans to roll out the machines to 50 of its restaurants.
The machine consists of an arm and separate fittings to help it do different jobs. It can lift patties, place them on the cooking surface and then track the cooking time, flipping when the burger is ready to be turned.
In the interests of hygiene, Flippy can switch from using a spatula for raw meat and one for cooked meat as well as cleaning spatulas while cooking and wiping the surface of the grill with a scraper.
The rest of the burger-creating work is left to human hands, such as adding toppings and placing the burger inside a bun.
David Zito, co-founder and chief executive officer of Miso Robotics said: “Our mission is to improve working conditions of chefs and line cooks with assistants, not replace them. Anyone who’s ever worked in a restaurant knows how hard the work is and the value of extra hands and that’s exactly what we built.”
Fans of Flippy without access to a Caliburger will have to wait a while to see their meal made by the machine; the company has six-month exclusivity on the robot.
