Food-Serving Robot

I was served by a food-serving robot for the first time when I ate out for lunch today. It reminded me of previous restaurant-technology first experiences that have since become ubiquitous, and I wonder if food-serving robots will be normal in the future as well.

The robot is about a meter tall and has four trays for placing food. It moves through the narrow aisles of the restaurant slowly. It makes constant noise (chimes), probably to alert humans of its presence. I had seen the robot once before, but I was served by it for the first time today.

I was reading while waiting for my food to arrive, and I was surprised when the robot stopped at my table and lights flashed. I was unsure if I was supposed to take the food myself, as there were no instructions, but I did so since there was no staff around. After I moved the main plate, the plate of rice, and the bill to my table, the robot flashed lights again and headed to the restaurant kitchen.

I saw the robot serve some other customers while I was eating. Customers get their food from the robot themselves when it is only carrying their food. When the robot is carrying food for multiple tables, a staff member follows it and helps put the appropriate food on each table. One time there was a (human) delay, and the robot moved on toward the next table before the staff member was finished transferring food to the current table. The staff member had to chase the robot down to get a plate of rice. I had initially wondered if the robot uses sensors to change state, but this indicates that it might just wait a fixed amount of time before moving on.

My wife and oldest daughter were really interested in the story. They are looking forward to visiting the restaurant so that they can get served by a robot as well!

It is interesting to see various new technology tried out in restaurants. At my age, it does not seem long ago when human staff wrote down orders on paper. In the mid/late-1990s, a few of my friends started a company that marketed electronic devices for staff to carry around and enter orders as they are made. Such technology was soon very common!

In the mid-2000s, I made my first order on a device at the table. It was not very convenient, but that technology has greatly improved, and now many restaurants that I visit provide tablets for placing orders. The frequency of seeing confused elderly people trying to order continues to decrease.

I have also heard about major technology failures in US restaurants, where the restaurant requires customers to use their own devices to browse the menu and place orders. There are stories of frustration when internet connectivity is too poor to be able to do so, ending with people giving up and going to a different restaurant. I have yet to visit such a restaurant myself.