The Robots Are Here, and They Are Making You Fries
The Washington Post
Laura Reiley; Lee Powell
September 20, 2022
Fast-food restaurants are turning to robotic technology amid the prolonged labor shortage. Miso Robotic initially designed its Flippy robot to flip burgers, but made changes after restaurant executives said a more pressing need was for a robot that could handle the fryer station, where most workplace accidents happen. Fast-food chain Jack in the Box has installed a Flippy at its Chula Vista, CA, location at a cost of $5,000, plus $3,500 per month in rental fees. Miso Robotics also offers Skippy, a drink fulfillment robot, and Chippy, a robot that Chipotle plans to use for frying and seasoning tortilla chips. Mike Bell at Miso Robotics said, "We realized for a robotic solution to be a real solution for our customers, it had to have a really high customer return on investment, which meant it had to take a meaningful amount of labor off the table." ... '
