Coffee shop hires robots to help with social distancing.
(Baonghean.vn) - Despite being a robot, the "new employee" at a coffee shop in Daejeon, South Korea, is extremely polite and agile, constantly approaching customers without any difficulty.
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| Customers wait for robots to take their orders, brew coffee, and serve it to their tables in Daejeon, South Korea. Photo: Reuters |
"Please enjoy your almond-flavored Rooibos latte. It tastes even better if you stir it," the robot said as a customer received their drink on a tray attached to the capsule-shaped mainframe.
After successfully containing an outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) that infected more than 11,000 people and killed 267, South Korea is gradually shifting from enhanced social distancing regulations to what the government calls “distancing in daily life.”
According to Lee Dong-bae, research director at Vision Semicon, a smart factory solutions provider that collaborated with a state-run science institute to develop a robot coffee shop employee: “Our system doesn’t require human intervention from ordering to delivery, and the tables are spaced out to ensure smooth robot movement, aligning with the current social distancing guidelines.”
The system utilizes a robotic arm for brewing coffee and a robotic server, capable of preparing 60 different types of coffee and serving drinks to customers at their tables. The robots can also communicate and transmit data to other devices, and incorporate autonomous driving technology to calculate the best route around the coffee shop.
An order for six drinks, processed through a kiosk, takes only seven minutes. The only human employee at this two-story cafe is a baker who also handles cleaning and restocking.
The manufacturer and the science institute are collaborating to create the robot, aiming to supply it to at least 30 coffee shops this year. Lee Chae-mi, 23, a student, expressed: “The robot is fun and it’s so easy because people don’t have to get their drinks themselves. But I’m also a little worried about the job market, as many of my friends are working overtime at coffee shops and robots like these will replace humans.”