Spyce Kitchen, a robotic chef built by four recent M.I.T. grads • Hacker News Board

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

#61

Post by gamblor956 » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 5:34 PM UTC

baldfat wrote: post #49

eropple wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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.

That is so false that you must be trolling. I've been to plenty of restaurants where you couldn't smell the food outside the restaurant, even though you could see them cooking the food inside and the air ducts carrying the smoky air from the kitchen to the outside. This ranges from small mom-and-pop taco stops to Michelin-starred restaurants.

On a side note: I've been to both Burger King and McDonalds, and you can smell them cooking the burgers at both. You can't "fake grill" a burger, as microwaving ground beef patties produces a different texture than grilling or pan-grilling.

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

#62

Post by dominotw » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 5:42 PM UTC

oh_sigh wrote: post #59

wiremine wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I'm talking about the end franchisees that makes and bakes the pizzas for the consumer.

Which ones specifically? At Dominos, I see people hand tossing dough and setting the ingredients whenever I go into one(not too frequently, don't judge me). I would imagine a group like Dominos would be the first to mechanize considering their scale?

what about the toppings, sauces ect?

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

#63

Post by maxxxxx » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 5:46 PM UTC

I find it interesting how good the top schools are at making sure they get credit for things. I often read "Harvard scientist..., MIT grads, Stanford..." in headlines. You rarely read "University of Minnesota" (just a made up example) so the casual reader may think that Harvard, MIT and Stanford are the only schools that do interesting things.

And it really works. At a startup I worked at we had a guy from MIT and whenever the VCs talked to to the low ranks they inevitable ended up talking to him. And no, he was not the best engineer. Not even close.

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

#64

Post by geofft » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 6:10 PM UTC

baldfat wrote: post #53

michaelvoz wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just ate at The Modern in NYC the other day. The Modern is a Michelin star restaurant. I didn't smell cooking. Half the dining experience at Michelin restaurants is all about tightly controlling the inflow of stimuli to your senses. No good restaurant would want you to smell someone else's seafood cooking while you start on desert. Is your experience limited solely to to restaurants with poor HVAC?

I stated specifically outside not inside. You smell cooking from outside since kitchen's are vented. Now in NYC sometimes the vents are on top of a 25 story building and that beautiful NYC post winter stench might cover it up. If a restaurant has a ton of items on the menu I guarantee you that most of that is just prepared food that is microwaved. Seems like people are mad that I believe that most food in restaurants…

> Seems like people are mad that I believe that most food in restaurants are not cooked.

People should be mad at falsehoods. What better use is the feeling for?

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

#65

Post by baldfat » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 6:11 PM UTC

eropple wrote: post #57

baldfat wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stated specifically outside not inside. You smell cooking from outside since kitchen's are vented. Now in NYC sometimes the vents are on top of a 25 story building and that beautiful NYC post winter stench might cover it up. If a restaurant has a ton of items on the menu I guarantee you that most of that is just prepared food that is microwaved. Seems like people are mad that I believe that most food in restaurants…

I don't think people are "mad". But you have a track record of saying trivially disproven, unsubstantiated things on HN and you backtrack poorly from them, then you sprinkle in weirdly fixated antagonism like "NYC post winter stench". It's bad posting, and it's wrong besides--the gap between "they don't cook anything" and "they fry frozen appetizers and cook everything else as anyone else would" is not so small that…

> I don't think people are "mad". But you have a track record of saying trivially disproven, unsubstantiated things on HN and you backtrack poorly from them

I either state my person experience from many years ago. (Don't need to present a research link) OR I present my research. Sorry you don't find me as a positive addition on HN.

I was stating my personal experience of working at a restaurant that had their meals prepared in France was frozen and shipped to America. The preparation was boiled in bags or microwaved and got high dollar for the meals. That is my personal experience.

Long time ago most chains like Applebee's and Tuesday's meals were prepared hours, days or weeks before a person would eat them and either they were boiled in a bag, microwaved or deep fried. This still happens more than people know. That is my statement.

Here is an article on expensive French Restaurants use of pre-pared food.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/728...

So I guess me saying that if I can't smell a kitchen cooking food it probably is making pre-pared meals. I could also state that if the menu has hundreds of items they are also pre-pared meals, but to you that is poor posting?

I much rather have a few option that are fresh and that is what the OP Restaurant is doing with robots and one human at a garnish station. Most of America's restaurants do not use fresh food or prepare your food that day. Applebee's has gone out of their way to change the way they make food.

"Today, the country's largest casual dining chain lights up 2,000 new wood-fired grills for a revamped menu with steaks that Applebee's hand-cuts on the premises. Amid the barrage of price-driven industry promotions, Applebee's thinks its upgrade to USDA Choice beef, along with the stacks of logs outside restaurants and the aroma of wood smoke inside, will pique consumer interest. That's something the chain needs right now: In the last fiscal financial year, same-restaurant sales were flat, and this year, Applebee's expects sales to range from a negative 2 percent drop to a 2 percent gain." http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/applebees-bets-big-rel...

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

#66

Post by Animats » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 6:15 PM UTC

It's just another automatic wok. There are many companies making those in China.[1][2][3][4] And those are just the pan style. The simpler rotating-drum machines are easily available on Alibaba.[5] Those guys didn't do their homework to see what's available.

The home-sized ones often take a cartridge of little plastic bins preloaded with the ingredients and coded with the instructions. Just slip one of those in the slot, push start, and get a good hot meal.

You want to compete with China, you need to know what's already been done there. Remember those "Bodega" clowns? They apparently didn't know that much more advanced automatic convenience stores already exist in China.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HkGRzzsKH4 [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCTv-4sFt_s [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NTIciISVPA [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S--wwu4S-w [5] https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/automatic-wok-machine.html

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

#67

Post by coupdejarnac » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 6:27 PM UTC

maxxxxx wrote: post #63

I find it interesting how good the top schools are at making sure they get credit for things. I often read "Harvard scientist..., MIT grads, Stanford..." in headlines. You rarely read "University of Minnesota" (just a made up example) so the casual reader may think that Harvard, MIT and Stanford are the only schools that do interesting things. And it really works. At a startup I worked at we had a guy from MIT and wh…

It's name dropping, appealing to people who are easily impressed.

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

#68

Post by thatcat » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 6:31 PM UTC

gamblor956 wrote: post #58

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…

Your statement is technically libelous in nature, as you are accusing a major restaurant chain of not actually cooking any of there food based on spurious factual assumptions. You may want to consider asking dang to delete your comment. As a side note, if you walk into an Applebee's you can actually be seated at a table with a view of the kitchen, where you can watch the cooks at work. Applebee's may not be the best…

To be libelous it would need to be proven false. Some Applebees location has likely at least partially microwaved chicken/steak to ensure that it meets the minimum safe temperature during busy periods before.

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

#69

Post by tomc1985 » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 6:42 PM UTC

eropple wrote: post #57

baldfat wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stated specifically outside not inside. You smell cooking from outside since kitchen's are vented. Now in NYC sometimes the vents are on top of a 25 story building and that beautiful NYC post winter stench might cover it up. If a restaurant has a ton of items on the menu I guarantee you that most of that is just prepared food that is microwaved. Seems like people are mad that I believe that most food in restaurants…

I don't think people are "mad". But you have a track record of saying trivially disproven, unsubstantiated things on HN and you backtrack poorly from them, then you sprinkle in weirdly fixated antagonism like "NYC post winter stench". It's bad posting, and it's wrong besides--the gap between "they don't cook anything" and "they fry frozen appetizers and cook everything else as anyone else would" is not so small that…

The last time I ate at Applebee's the food tasted microwaved. I'm no chef but there is a subtle je ne soi quois about microwaved food (pasta specifically) and it was definitely present.

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

#70

Post by dsfyu404ed » Mon, Apr 09, 2018, 6:46 PM UTC

coupdejarnac wrote: post #67

maxxxxx wrote: post #63

I find it interesting how good the top schools are at making sure they get credit for things. I often read "Harvard scientist..., MIT grads, Stanford..." in headlines. You rarely read "University of Minnesota" (just a made up example) so the casual reader may think that Harvard, MIT and Stanford are the only schools that do interesting things. And it really works. At a startup I worked at we had a guy from MIT and wh…

It's name dropping, appealing to people who are easily impressed.

This. Regardless of the school name you prefix it with "graduates designed" conjures up mental imagery of bolted assemblies with fasteners you can't actually get a wrench on and massive stamped parts with a size tolerance of whatever the default in their cad software was"