A Mobile Dual-Arm Robot for Autonomous Cooking Operation

The food services industry is ripe for a technological revolution. Challenging labor conditions such as rising minimum wage, high employee turnover, and scarcity of skills among other things makes it increasingly difficult for restaurants to be profitable and scale their business effectively. Delivering a quality product in a consistent manner with today’s low-pay low-skilled workforce is difficult at best; and the hallmark of success in the food services industry is quality and consistency. Furthermore, there are sanitation risks in the interaction of workers and the food they prepare. In light of these challenges, the introduction of advanced automation solutions to restaurant kitchens and the food services industry is an attractive option to increase productivity and safety as well as improve efficiency. Automation of kitchens using robotics technology will offer better way to reduce waste, increase accuracy and efficiency, and provide customers with food that is prepared just-in-time with real-time feedback during the cooking process. With the introduction of this automation concept, everything measured precisely to the correct ingredients with cooking times and temperatures running on software programs that determine the amount of time it will take right down to the second each and every time.

Faculty Supervisor:

William Melek;Baris Fidan

Student:

Cem Cetin

Partner:

Gastronomous Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Waterloo