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Spyce Kitchen, a robotic chef built by four recent M.I.T. grads

newyorker.com

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Re: Spyce Kitchen, a robotic chef built by four recent M.I.T. grads

#41

Post by Retric »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #23
joezydeco wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think labor is what keeps fast food prices high, you are mistaken. Most of the largest chains have pretty much automated nearly everything by now that's possible given reliability and safety standards. If you look in the kitchen of any McDonald's nobody is cooking or preparing the components. They're either pre-cut, loaded into dispensers, being cooked in a self-timing temperature-controlled fryer, or being co…

25% to 40% I see by labor statistics. That's quite a margin.

Food prep is a small portion of that, you also pay people to clean the bathrooms, take orders, handle inventory and disputes, etc. Food prep on it's own is almost a rounding error.

You might be getting 30 seconds of time from people making minimum wage for a combo, but that's about it and even at 15$/hour that's well under 15 cents per order.

Re: Spyce Kitchen, a robotic chef built by four recent M.I.T. grads

#43

Post by tantalor »

spycefoodco wrote: post #32
tantalor wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc8D-CnDMiE

That's an old video. Our new robotic kitchen has been completely redesigned and reengineered since then. There's a photo in the social share...check out @spycefoodco on Facebook or Twitter to see the image.

Is it so hard to give us a link to the video?

Re: Spyce Kitchen, a robotic chef built by four recent M.I.T. grads

#44

Post by eropple »

baldfat wrote: post #39
bhouston wrote: post #25

People seem to forget that nearly all frozen meals and frozen pizzas are all robotic made by the many millions per day. Just by very expensive, large and high speed robots. The innovation is now trying to make robots that are more flexible, smaller and low volume food production while not being super expensive.

Applebees could be all cooked by Robots also since all their food is microwaved frozen food. (I tell friends if you can't smell (edit) cooking outside the restaurant they are just a microwave kitchen.) Fast food could also be run by robots fairly easily. I am imagining in 15 years most places will have robots doing the majority of cooking in restaurants. They won't spread disease, make food consistently, won't call o…

When you can't "smell cooking" (as I assume you meant to write), it means their HVAC works, and if you can't "see cooking" (the other reasonable option?), it means they know how to put up a wall. Your friends should be taking you with a grain of salt.

"All their food" at Applebee's is not "microwaved frozen food"; I know plenty of people who got their start as cooks and chefs there. Something like three-quarters is made in-house and you'd have to be blind and unable to feel your tongue to not be able to tell a microwaved steak.

Re: Spyce Kitchen, a robotic chef built by four recent M.I.T. grads

#45

Post by JoeAltmaier »

cgriswald wrote: post #27
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #2

I've been predicting robotic fast food for a decade now. And it's here! By cooking with no human hand ever coming into contact with the ingredients or utensils, clearly a health benefit is accrued. And by steam-cleaning the cooker periodically, quality is improved. I'd envisioned a somewhat different robot. I thought the ingredients could be tube-delivered like caulking guns, on a rotating 'tool carousel' so you coul…

Any price change will not be radical. Wages account for about 25% of the cost of fast food, but these robots are not free and any savings will result in price drops only if the price change also increases profits. Instead, more money may be spent on better ingredients or marketing. Do not expect a 25% price drop. With regard to health and safety, the robots will provide only small benefit. Humans are better equipped…

The market will produce those that work savings into the price. We can't make blanket statements denying that?

The automated food industry is very, very good at producing quality safe food. And I reject that humans will still be storing nor handling food - a truck backs up, exchanges pallets with a food container carousel, the truck drives away with the empties. Robots all the way!

Re: Spyce Kitchen, a robotic chef built by four recent M.I.T. grads

#46

Post by jpm_sd »

Symmetry wrote: post #17

Nice to see them getting coverage, we were at the same startup incubator (Greentown) before we both moved on to larger offices. I can attest that the food this machine makes is, in fact, tasty.

The description in the article suggests that the machine does not actually make any of the food, it just measures and dispenses pre-cooked items into a bowl? So it's a glorified automatic dog feeder?

Re: Spyce Kitchen, a robotic chef built by four recent M.I.T. grads

#47

Post by ohquu »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #33
spycefoodco wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a picture in the social share. Check out @spycefoodco on Facebook or Twitter to see!

Why not just link to the picture instead of pandering your social media accounts?

I went to their Twitter and looked for the picture. I assume this is it. I don't see anything else: https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/983333636975054848/siPS_w5d?f...

Re: Spyce Kitchen, a robotic chef built by four recent M.I.T. grads

#49

Post by baldfat »

eropple wrote: post #44
baldfat wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Applebees could be all cooked by Robots also since all their food is microwaved frozen food. (I tell friends if you can't smell (edit) cooking outside the restaurant they are just a microwave kitchen.) Fast food could also be run by robots fairly easily. I am imagining in 15 years most places will have robots doing the majority of cooking in restaurants. They won't spread disease, make food consistently, won't call o…

When you can't "smell cooking" (as I assume you meant to write), it means their HVAC works, and if you can't "see cooking" (the other reasonable option?), it means they know how to put up a wall. Your friends should be taking you with a grain of salt. "All their food" at Applebee's is not "microwaved frozen food"; I know plenty of people who got their start as cooks and chefs there. Something like three-quarters is m…

Looks like Applebee's is actually starting to cook items. I guess public pressure has changed their ways. Good for them. They absolutely were the king of microwaved food in chain sit downs for decades.

Appetizers are all frozen and pre-packaged they just deep fried at almost all chains.

Heck I worked at Ethan Allen Inn in Danbury CT a LONG time ago and all the meals were frozen and prepared in France and shipped over. Easily $75 to $125 per person in the 90s.

Smell outside a restraunt is certainly a true statement. No HVAC (A/C or Heater) is going to filter the kitchen's vent. Tell me you can't smell the difference between Burger King's fake grilling and McDonald when your outside of them? Same thing with restaurants. The one's that microwave a ton will

Re: Spyce Kitchen, a robotic chef built by four recent M.I.T. grads

#50

Post by lnsru »

sorenn111 wrote: post #6

I'm surprised Moley ( http://www.moley.com/ ) didn't get a mention. I'm super excited about robotic food preparation, especially in the case of consumer facing robotics where its a unit in your own kitchen. With that said, from the robotics progress I've seen/studied, more fundamental robotics progress needs to be made first. The approaches used right now are just not durable/reliable enough for mass market adoption.…

The price of $15k according their YouTube video is ridiculously low. Decent robot arm costs you $5k alone. Not sure how they will plan to make some profit even buying parts in bulk.
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