The gastrobots project started with a child’s joy, so it is a matter of course for us to spread this joy further. That’s why we gladly accepted the challenge of spinning ice cream and created zmrZlínobot, which spun ice cream for children at the children’s film festival in Zlín, where we shot several hundred ice creams a day during the festival. It must be said that the robot was a success not only with children, but also adults watched with interest how the robot was doing and even better when it was not. Sometimes everything just doesn’t go according to plan. zmrZlínobota is still waiting for another stint on the children’s day, and the children are certainly looking forward to it.

The Moravian Gallery is preparing an attraction for its visitors in the form of a robot barista. The robot will prepare espresso, cappuccino, hot chocolate, tea for visitors and will even be able to print any image into the foam of the drinks. Visitors create an order at the ordering terminal, similar to what is done at McDonald’s, for example. The robot then prepares their desired drink, which it then serves on a tray with a biscuit, a spoon and a glass of water. All this in overlapping time to minimize downtime. The barista robot is nothing new, there are already several similar projects in the world, but in the Czech Republic this is the first “cafe” robot of its kind. Undoubtedly, but not the last. You too would have coffee from a robot?

When the coronavirus crisis invaded the world, restrictions on restaurant facilities came along with it, and for many businesses this invasion meant pausing over their operations and how to adjust hygiene and service availability so that they could still function in a similar situation. Many have seen the trend of automation and robotization of restaurant equipment. For example, in Japan or China, you will meet robots in restaurant establishments practically now. Thanks to the pandemic situation, even otherwise conservative Europe is beginning to perceive that cooperation between humans and robots is an almost ideal solution for similar situations. And so in some countries, for example, robot receptionists who check the temperature of the entering customer at the same time or robot waiters who bring food on a tray to the service table have started to appear inside restaurants, thus minimizing interpersonal contact. Efforts to minimize human contact with food are also starting to appear in the preparation of meals, which at the same time aims to increase productivity in order to meet the demands of a larger number of customers. In short, new approaches are pouring in from all possible directions to automate catering operations and thereby increase hygiene standards and efficiency. In this way, robots will begin to appear much more often among people. What do you think? Are we ready for the age of robots?