Moley Robotics has created a robot chef that sits in an automated kitchen and makes whatever you want. Thousands of recipes will be available in 2017, with an option for you to record yourself cooking, so the robot chef will learn to prepare a new dish!
(Amazing robot chef learns from tapes)
Two highly complex, fully articulated hands, made by the Shadow Robot Company, comprise the kitchen’s key enabling technology. The product of over eighteen years research and development, Shadow’s products are used in labs around the world and by NASA. Able to faithfully reproduce the movements of a human hand, their utility underpins the unique capability of the Automated Kitchen.
The Moley Robotics system does not cook like a machine – it captures human skills in motion. Tim Anderson, culinary innovator and winner of the prestigious BBC Master Chef competition (2011), played an integral role in the kitchen’s development, cooking specially created dishes in a motion-capture studio. Every motion, nuance and flourish was recorded in 3D – then translated into elegant digital movement.
Sophisticated yet compact, it will feature a built-in refrigerator and dishwasher to complement a professional-grade hob and oven. It can be controlled using a built-in touch screen or remotely via a smart phone app.
When not in use, the robotic arms retract from view, presenting a beautifully designed kitchen for home cooks to enjoy. When running in automated mode, built-in glass screens glide across the working area, making the kitchen 100% safe to operate around children, pets or with even with no one at home.
Later editions will also feature built-in motion capture cameras so home cooks can 3D record themselves preparing their favourite dishes and upload them to the digital recipe library.
I really think that there is an uncanny science-fictional prediction of the Moley robot chef - Anthony Boucher's robot bartender from Q.U.R., from way back in 1943. It learned to make drinks by watching someone do it:
"I got one of those new electronic cameras - you know, one thousand exposures per second... So we took pictures of Guzub making a Three Planets, and I could construct this one to do it exactly right down to the thousandth of a second. The proper proportion of vuzd, in case you're interested, works out to three-point-six-five-four-seven eight-two-three drops. It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat. It didn't seem right to use Guzub to make a robot that would compete with him and probably drive him out of business, so we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties on usuform barkeeps."
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