China has built a robot restaurant for next month’s Winter Olympics to help minimize contact as part of measures to reduce coronavirus infections at the event.
But banish from your mind any thoughts of some wheel-based android trundling up to your table with a tray holding your meal. The one installed for athletes and media personnel attending the Beijing Winter Games uses complex robotic technology for the entire process, from kitchen to table.
The coolest part is the delivery process, which uses a system of ceiling-based tracks to automatically carry your meal from the kitchen before lowering it to your table. The footage also shows a robot preparing a burger meal and rice dishes in the kitchen, with a serving hatch offering another method of collection.
Check it out in the video below.
The high-tech restaurant will be located inside a bubble at the Winter Olympics that will separate athletes, media, and staff from the outside world for the entirety of the event, which runs from February 4 through February 20.
Organizers at the Games are also deploying a robot bartender that’s essentially a robot arm capable of everything from gentle glass handling to vigorous cocktail shaking.
As you can see in the video, after receiving an order, the robot bartender can mix and serve a cocktail within just 90 seconds, though with only one of the robots apparently in operation, the line for a drink may still be long.
China has been implementing strict COVID-19 policies, including targeted lockdowns and stringent border measures, in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.
For the Games, a closed “loop” has been set up in a bid to eliminate any mixing with the general population, with venues surrounded by physical barriers aimed at keeping people apart. At the end of the event, the 19,000 locals who worked at the Games will have to quarantine for up to three weeks before they can return home.
