So you’re throwing a holiday party and need help, but can’t afford the human variety? Stella Artois is offering an inexpensive robotic alternative but only for people who have a robot vacuum cleaner.
Called Stella Artois BART (for Bartending Automated Robotic Technology), it’s an add-on stand that attaches to the robovac and is topped by a tray with four beverage holders and room for a snack bowl. The idea is that your guests can grab a brewski and some nuts while the robot vacuum makes its usual appointed floor-cleaning rounds.
Not only does this gadget take over tedious beer-serving duties (freeing you to spend more time with your guests), it also keeps your floor free of spilled party debris, which it scoops up (if it’s doing its job right).
Best of all, Stella Artois is selling it $20 while supplies last. And when they run out, Stella Artois has been kind enough to post a 3D-printer file for those with access to a 3D printer and appropriate materials.
In the publicity photos and video, the Stella Artois BART looks quite capable. The beverage holders cut into the two-tiered clear plastic tray are designed to accommodate either Stella Artois beer bottles or Chalice goblets.
Stella Artois says you can install the BART on any robot vacuum. It arrives as a kit, with a base that attaches securely to the robovac with heavy-duty Velcro patches, a stand, and the aforementioned tray.
The beverage holder design keeps bottles and goblets from tipping, and “strategically placed ridges” keep them from sliding around, even while the robovac is gliding around the floor, a Stella Artois spokesperson said.
You can check out Stella Artois’ video of the BART in action on YouTube. (It’s also on Stella Artois’ own website, but you can only see it there if you’re 21 or older).
Stella Artois provides four Chalice goblets with the BART kit. But you’re on your own for the bottles and the beer.
