Skip to main content

In a couple years, you’ll be able to sleep in while this robot makes you breakfast

Moley Robotics
IBM’s Watson has a little competition in the kitchen. The artificial intelligence machine just released a cookbook, but Moley Robotics wants to put an entire robotic chef in your kitchen. Debuting at international robotics show Hanover Messe, the prototype is a sneak peek at what the company hopes to release to consumers in 2017.

The prototype is a result of a collaboration Moley and the Shadow Robot Company, which actually created the hands. At the show, the robot is whipping up crab bisque, which it “learned” to make by mimicking BBC MasterChef winner Tim Anderson; a 3D camera filmed him making the recipe, and the robot’s commands were based on the chef’s movements.

Related Videos

The appeal of the robot for chefs is that it can make each dish precisely the same way every time. For homeowners, it’s the convenience, says Anderson. “What I would want is it to make me a good meal, a fresh meal, made from good, fresh ingredients when I can’t be bothered to do it,” he tells The BBC.

Robot chef serves up the future of home cooking

NASA has its own pair of the robotic hands, which are dexterous enough to stir a pot, pour in ingredients, and transfer dirty dishes to the sink. However, they can’t do everything: Sushi might be beyond its capabilities at the moment. “Maybe with sushi rolls it might be fine, but with nigiri sushi it would be very, very difficult, as it would need to use certain pressure and certain quick movements” to be as good as a human, chef Wojciech Psykala of Kouzu restaurant told IBTimes UK. Still, the hands, which are driven by motors and sensors, were created to be as close a human’s as possible, and with the exception of a few movements in the thumb, “all the other joint movements are actually there,” Rich Walker of Shadow Robot tells the BBC.

When it’s released in two years, the robot will have even more abilities than it does now. The robot will come with a built-in fridge and dishwasher and have over 2,000 cooking options in its recipe library. If you want to tackle a recipe yourself, you’ll be able to fold up the hands and place them in a cupboard. The expected price is about $14,800 (£10,000), which, surprisingly, is more than we typically spend per year on takeout.

Editors' Recommendations

What are smart ovens and smart stoves?
june oven artificial intelligence smart 04

Smart kitchen technology isn’t new, but a growing segment of this market is now focused on smart ovens. But what exactly is a smart oven, what does it do, and what actually makes it smart?
What are smart ovens/stoves?

Technically speaking there are two definitions of smart ovens. There’s the traditional built-in, large format oven or stove appliances that have added technology (often a connected app) and then there are smaller, portable versions also known as countertop ovens. These countertop versions are representing a new segment of the smart kitchen.

Read more
Panasonic’s smart microwave works with Alexa
Panasonic microwave that works with Alexa.

Panasonic joins the pack of other microwave manufacturers by releasing a new model that works with Alexa during CES 2022. Users can connect the Panasonic Smart Inverter Countertop Microwave Oven, Works with Alexa (NN-SV79MS) to an Alexa-enabled smart speaker, and issue commands, at will.

What makes this microwave so smart? Well, when you connect it to a smart speaker, such as an Echo or Echo Dot, you can tell the microwave to do over 100 things. Tell Alexa to make popcorn or reheat your tea and the microwave will do it. Set up should be fairly straightforward using the zero-touch setup (we're thinking this is done all through the Alexa app) or 2D code setup (typically, that's scanning a QR code). While you don't need to connect the microwave to Alexa for it to work, you can't use the commands feature if it's not connected.
How does it work as a microwave?

Read more
How often should you use your robot mop
irobot roomba spraying water on wood floor with vacuum Roomba in dock behind it.

Like vacuuming your home, mopping is a task that you can automate to free up time. Smart mops are becoming more readily available (along with combination robot cleaners) from some of the same biggest names in the business. There are some things for you to know about running your smart robot mop in your home.

When you first buy your smart mop, you'll probably want to run it all the time to clean any and all messes. Unfortunately, they aren't made for that. Smart robot mops are made to clean up slight dust and dirt as well as spills that aren't super tough. You will still have to manually mop up some messes if they become caked over or combined with other debris.

Read more