Kichen.docx

ROBOTIC KITCHEN

Depictions of the future in pop culture have always included food produced instantly by a robotic chef or automated machinery. Just think of Jane Jetson pushing in a punch card for “Pizza” or “Fried Chicken” and having it pop out fully cooked seconds later, and you get the idea. The goal of Moley Robotics, London, UK, may not be that cartoonish, but they are aiming to produce a consumer version of a robotic kitchen that will allow you to order food on your mobile device and have it ready and waiting when you arrive home.

Mark Cutkosky, professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University and Co-CTO of the company, says the key to their robotic kitchen is the hood that encapsulates the unit, and what it contains. “Two robotic arms come out and do the cooking with the help of tools it can handle,” he says. “It doesn’t work to have a freewheeling Jetsons robot flying around the kitchen but instead a specialized countertop where robots are built in. In [company founder and CEO] Mark Oleynik's thoughts, the robot is tucked underneath the hood and there is looping back and forth, picking up what’s needed from the countertop.”