White Castle to pilot Flippy kitchen robot this fall to reduce human contact with food

[Shawn Knight]

Editor's take: While automating the cooking process would remove the human element from the equation, which some may frown upon, it would introduce some much-needed consistency. It can be irritating when the same menu item is prepared in a completely different manner between locations simply based on how the person behind the grill believes it should be cooked or presented. Having a robot cook manning the spatula would ensure it is cooked the same way each and every time.

American hamburger chain White Castle on Tuesday announced a partnership with Miso Robotics to pilot its autonomous kitchen assistant in select restaurants later this year.

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has forced virtually every sector to reexamine how they conduct business and the restaurant industry is no exception. Flippy, the robot-on-a-rail (ROAR) system introduced by Miso earlier this year, will reduce human contact with food, thus adding an additional layer of safety during the cooking process.

The robotic kitchen helper is also expected to improve efficiency and reduce labor needs in the kitchen, allowing White Castle to redeploy team members or reduce the number of employees needed to staff a location.

White Castle will deploy Flippy in select restaurants this fall where management will gauge various metrics including production, quality, taste and POS integration. Assuming there aren’t any major hiccups, White Castle will look to bring the robotic kitchen assistant to additional locations at a later date.

Image credit: Ken Wolter, AVC Originals

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https://www.techspot.com/news/85987-white-castle-pilot-flippy-kitchen-robot-fall-reduce.html

 

[Uncle Al]

It's a sad state of affairs with the WC Lounge is cutting back on their human staff ...... and how am I going to get my fries "well done" with a temperamental robot?!?!?!?!

 

[fps4ever]

It's a sad state of affairs with the WC Lounge is cutting back on their human staff ...... and how am I going to get my fries "well done" with a temperamental robot?!?!?!?!

Not having to wait for an extra 10 minutes in line for Karen to decide on how she wants to have it "her way" is progress if you ask me. It's fast food FFS.

 

[Uncle Al]

Not having to wait for an extra 10 minutes in line for Karen to decide on how she wants to have it "her way" is progress if you ask me. It's fast food FFS.

WC wouldn't allow her to hold up the line. In the Cincinnati Office (WC Hq) they teach the staff to ask customers to step out of line if they don't know what they want ... and the better run stores enforce it! If you've experienced otherwise, drop a card to WC in Cincinnati and let them know!

 

[DZillaXx]

It's a sad state of affairs with the WC Lounge is cutting back on their human staff ...... and how am I going to get my fries "well done" with a temperamental robot?!?!?!?!

With some simple programming.
American workers tend to be quite lazy and uncaring. I rarely eat fast food, but nearly every time its not 100% fresh or 100% correct.

If anything this will just bring about more consistent food at a quicker pace.

People have better things to do than work min wage at a fast food joint.

Automation is not about getting rid of jobs. Its about getting rid of low skill jobs and creating more high skill jobs.

White Castle isn't very good anyways

 

[poohbear]

It's a sad state of affairs with the WC Lounge is cutting back on their human staff ...... and how am I going to get my fries "well done" with a temperamental robot?!?!?!?!

lol really? They would just program the robot arm to cook the fries a little longer. Software does much more complicated things in the 21st century. Would've figured that's pretty straight forward for a techie... are you sure you're on the right site?? lol


I honestly thought automated burger flippers would've happened much sooner. Surprised it took so long to automate something so simple.

 

[drjekelmrhyde]

With some simple programming.
American workers tend to be quite lazy and uncaring. I rarely eat fast food, but nearly every time its not 100% fresh or 100% correct.

If anything this will just bring about more consistent food at a quicker pace.

People have better things to do than work min wage at a fast food joint.

Automation is not about getting rid of jobs. Its about getting rid of low skill jobs and creating more high skill jobs.

White Castle isn't very good anyways

It is about getting rid of jobs. It's only 3 places that were over the curb on paying more than minimum wage, White Castle, Costco, and Aldi's. Some of those 3 employees get $20 a hour.

 

[fps4ever]

Not having to wait for an extra 10 minutes in line for Karen to decide on how she wants to have it "her way" is progress if you ask me. It's fast food FFS.

WC wouldn't allow her to hold up the line. In the Cincinnati Office (WC Hq) they teach the staff to ask customers to step out of line if they don't know what they want ... and the better run stores enforce it! If you've experienced otherwise, drop a card to WC in Cincinnati and let them know!

Agreed but I'm talking vehicle lines as well. Nothing like watching Karen trying to make up her mind with a pretty standard menu and then make special requests because it's not exactly "her way". Then turn and asks the kids what they want. Want special orders go inside. Also my comment was more of a general comment fo all fast food resteraunts, wasn't picking on WC.

 

[antiproduct]

I hope they bring in these ketchup dispensing robots in as well...

 

[p51d007]

At least you won't have to worry about anyone spitting on your food, or dropping it on the
floor and still using it.

 

[psycros]

I rather hope this fails spectacularly: the last thing we need right now is more people out of work. Industries, schools and governments need to be thinking real hard about what kind of jobs will be created to replace those taken by future automation.

 

[scavengerspc]

At least you won't have to worry about anyone spitting on your food, or dropping it on the
floor and still using it.

I guess. A little hydraulic fluid never hurt anyone. Wait..

 

[Dimitrios]

If I arm wrestle this thing would it win?

 

[Avro Arrow]

I guess. A little hydraulic fluid never hurt anyone. Wait..

It uses a special hydraulic fluid called canola oil.

 

[Avro Arrow]

With some simple programming.
American workers tend to be quite lazy and uncaring. I rarely eat fast food, but nearly every time its not 100% fresh or 100% correct.

That's a pretty unfair statement to make. Just how caring would you be if your employer was constantly harping on you to work faster for minimum wage without ever giving you a raise? Back when employers treated their employees like human beings, people were actually proud to work where they worked, regardless of where it was. I worked at a Wendy's when I was a teenager and what a horrible excuse for a job that was! I know for a fact that not much has changed since then.

If anything this will just bring about more consistent food at a quicker pace.

Until something goes wrong... and something always goes wrong!

People have better things to do than work min wage at a fast food joint.

Most of them work these jobs because the US economy has been so raped by the top 0.1% that there are no other jobs to be had. Very few people work at these jobs because they're not qualified for something else. It's a terrible state of affairs.

Automation is not about getting rid of jobs. Its about getting rid of low skill jobs and creating more high skill jobs.

In a perfect world, sure. In our world, it's for companies to increase their profits. You're not naïve enough to think that if a WC or McDonald's had a fully-automated location, that the prices would fall due to the savings on wages, are you? Of course they wouldn't! They'd just turf their employees to the curb and rake even more money in. That's why capitalism is a morally-bankrupt economic system. It values dollars only. The only value that people have is how much you can soak them for. It's disgusting.

White Castle isn't very good anyways

I honestly have no idea. There aren't any in Canada. The funny thing is, White Castle was apparently the first fast-food hamburger joint in the USA. I'd be interested to try them but I doubt that they'd be even half as good as Harvey's (something that the Americans don't have):

 

[scavengerspc]

I'd be interested to try them but I doubt that they'd be even half as good as Harvey's

I have had a Harvey's burger (Brentwood Road, Calgary) and I can assure you they are better than White Castle. By a lot.

But if you are in America, give Whataburger and, my favorite, Sonic a try. A Sonic burger is often an inmate's last meal request.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I have had a Harvey's burger (Brentwood Road, Calgary) and I can assure you they are better than White Castle. By a lot.

But if you are in America, give Whataburger and, my favorite, Sonic a try. A Sonic burger is often an inmate's last meal request.

Whoa, really? That's pretty amazing. Yeah, I will definitely try Sonic if I ever come across one. We don't have capital punishment in Canada but if we did, I'm willing to bet that inmates would most likely ask for Swiss Chalet which is, ironically, part of the same restaurant group as Harvey's. Sometimes they're connected with each other and share an entrance:

There's a Sonic in Cheektowaga, NY and I'm definitely going to give it a try the next time I go:

I'll go there instead of my usual trip to Friendly's (or maybe I'll do both). Either way, I think that I'm going to be bursting when I come back over the border to Canada.