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Who's going to flip your burger, even for $17/hr, if they have to spend two hours coming all the way from Stockton every morning, genius?

jaclaz 5y ago
Glad you asked this, there are already attempts to disrupt this industry, already at the second generation, Flippy2: https://misorobotics.com/flippy-2/ https://misorobotics.com/flippy-2/
- hotpotamus 5y ago
  And how much has the Flippy1 disrupted the industry? Does it unload the truck and put food stocks in the freezer? Does it make burgers to order (extra pickles and no tomatoes for instance)? I wonder how many engineers or fast food execs ever actually worked in these kitchens because it doesn’t feel like this is all that ground breaking. Fast food restaurants were designed from the start to produce as much food as possible with a minimum of skilled labor already; 20 years ago I worked in one at the local theme park and they already had a “robot” - basically a broiler with a conveyor belt. You stick frozen pattys and buns in one end and a perfectly cooked burger comes out the other end a few minutes later. Fries weren’t as automated but still was just a matter of dumping some frozen ones into a hopper and pressing a preset timer button. I’d say most of the labor was customer service and cleaning dishes/machines/the kitchen. I’m sure fast food can be made more efficient somehow or other, but it should be realized that that juice has been squeezed a lot already.
  - jaclaz 5y ago
    >And how much has the Flippy1 disrupted the industry? That is exactly the reason why I am calling these "attempts". Not entirely unlike many other presumed "disruptors" these Flippies seem to me like a solution in search of a problem. BTW - at least in industries where robots are already in use - Rule #1 is complete separation between a robotic arm reach and humans, no exceptions, a human can go near a robot only when it is switched off, I believe that is not the case with the Flippy, as it is depicted it looks to me like being a potential safety issue for the other workers in the kitchen.
bitxbitxbitcoin 5y ago
Eventually, a robot that doesn’t need to commute.

jaclaz 5y ago

Glad you asked this, there are already attempts to disrupt this industry, already at the second generation, Flippy2: https://misorobotics.com/flippy-2/ https://misorobotics.com/flippy-2/

hotpotamus 5y ago
And how much has the Flippy1 disrupted the industry? Does it unload the truck and put food stocks in the freezer? Does it make burgers to order (extra pickles and no tomatoes for instance)? I wonder how many engineers or fast food execs ever actually worked in these kitchens because it doesn’t feel like this is all that ground breaking. Fast food restaurants were designed from the start to produce as much food as possible with a minimum of skilled labor already; 20 years ago I worked in one at the local theme park and they already had a “robot” - basically a broiler with a conveyor belt. You stick frozen pattys and buns in one end and a perfectly cooked burger comes out the other end a few minutes later. Fries weren’t as automated but still was just a matter of dumping some frozen ones into a hopper and pressing a preset timer button. I’d say most of the labor was customer service and cleaning dishes/machines/the kitchen. I’m sure fast food can be made more efficient somehow or other, but it should be realized that that juice has been squeezed a lot already.
- jaclaz 5y ago
  >And how much has the Flippy1 disrupted the industry? That is exactly the reason why I am calling these "attempts". Not entirely unlike many other presumed "disruptors" these Flippies seem to me like a solution in search of a problem. BTW - at least in industries where robots are already in use - Rule #1 is complete separation between a robotic arm reach and humans, no exceptions, a human can go near a robot only when it is switched off, I believe that is not the case with the Flippy, as it is depicted it looks to me like being a potential safety issue for the other workers in the kitchen.

bitxbitxbitcoin 5y ago

Eventually, a robot that doesn’t need to commute.