Fast Food Chain Adding Automated Kiosks to 1,000 of Its Restaurants in 2017

There are few fields where human laborers cannot be almost fully replaced by robots, software, and other forms of mechanisation.

There have to be some major changes soon when these things snowball and replace people en masse, and they will.

Soylent Green is people......

a reply to: vonclod

The self checkouts at the grocery store take cash and give change.
I saw a man pay with his cell phone the other day. I love technology.
I was buying a drink and paid with old fashioned cash. Lol.

a reply to: soficrow

Someone still has to slice tomatoes and cook and assemble the sandwiches and someone still needs to wash the tables floors and all that glass. And someone needs to buy food and stock pantries.
This only takes the "hey I said no pickle" out of the equation.

a reply to: Ohanka

Yes, I agree. Older people resist automation. Young ones not so much.

I remember the push on Automated Teller Machines - I moved to Canada around 1980 when the Toronto Dominion Bank had just rebranded their ATM as the "Green Machine." A friend working in the banking industry was very involved in the transition to ATM's around the world - she was always travelling internationally for conferences about the "ATM Transition Strategy."

Long story short - bankers started the transition to ATM's around the end of the 1960's and knew it would take a full generation (human) for complete penetration. They planned on it. As far as I can tell, they were right about the timeline.

This time around, I doubt it will take any where near that long.

a reply to: Sillyolme

For the home market, old news:



Direct from the manufacturer, the video is different but I can't imbed it.

THE WORLD'S FIRST ROBOTIC KITCHEN

Moley has created the world's first robotic kitchen. Featuring an advanced, fully functional robot integrated into a beautifully designed, professional kitchen, it cooks with the skill and flair of a master chef. The prototype was premiered to widespread acclaim at Hanover Messe, the international robotics show.

The consumer version set for launch in 2017 will be supported by an iTunes' style library of recipes.

a reply to: Bedlam

What's the different "set up" than taking it home or eating in the parking lot?
What happens if you say to go and then just eat it in your car anyway?

I'm not buying parking lot as a third option to " here or to go". Parking lot is to go. They bag it instead of putting it on a tray.

a reply to: Vector99

I ordered a pizza from a girl in a New Jersey Pizza Hut call center two days ago. I picked it up in Hampton Virginia. Phone in order. I even used a coupon by phone and didn't need to produce the coupon at the restaurant though I brought it with me. Nice man even called me by name.
No robots though.

All of the automation/machinery for slicing and dicing has been perfected in the food canning and packaging industries for many years, so you can toss that idea that one needs a human for that. Amazon has nearly perfected the warehousing and shipping aspect, just add refrigeration and robot accessibility there and you have an automated grocery store. Self driving trucks and cars are already here on a limited level...

...Make a refrigerator that the robot can access, a space where the cookware can be accessed by the same robot, along with a dishwasher to clean the dishes and the cook surface between there somewhere...A robot to get your groceries and cart it out to a self driving car that delivers it right to your delivery chute with a conveyor that takes it right inside your house to your kitchen bot...

How many jobs did we just eliminate?.

Why do we have an obesity epidemic here?.

I'll be out near your chute to intercept your groceries to carry out to my homeless camp because I will be seriously underemployed or unemployed like a lot of the rest of you....Just Kidding.

I'll be squatting somewhere in the mountains with my AR and a shovel to bury anyone who tries to run me off.

a reply to: Sillyolme

The robot part was the ordering system.

a reply to: Aazadan

Man...I remember when "Pong" was first introduced in steak houses in the seventies. A table with a super simple computer game built into it. But man we thought it was the bomb. It was the teeny tiny tip of the iceberg.

originally posted by: Aazadan

originally posted by: Edumakated
This is what happens when you try to force businesses to pay wages higher than what the market demands. In that article, it says each kiosk cost about $15k. If you are a restaurant owner, the return on investment is a no brainer. You could recoup your initial investment in less than a year.

Businesses were going to move to kiosks anyways, it's been in the works for years. It has nothing to do with a push for $15/hour. Even at the current minimum wage, they're much more economical.

There is always progression through technology. However, the one factor that always limits it is return on investment. When you have a situation where there is wage inflation combined with technology getting cheaper, it is going to speed up how quickly those jobs get replaced. My point is the pressure from social groups has made implementing these technologies much more urgent for businesses.

The thing about many low skilled and low wage jobs though is that often times they were cheap enough where businesses didn't necessarily feel pressure to eliminate that cost. Dollar for dollar, people generally rather deal with a person. However, there is only so much premium a businesses is going to be willing to pay for that luxury.

originally posted by: MyHappyDogShiner
a reply to: Sillyolme

The robot part was the ordering system.

Quite right. They had everything including the coupon code and my name when I drove up.
I felt a little bad because the lady paying in front of me ordered her pizza at the shop. I walked up after she sat down to wait and walked out a minute later with our dinner.

a reply to: soficrow

I'm dying to get a roomba robot vacuum.. I don't know how long they hold a charge and my living room alone is 16 X 30. It would probably run out before it did one room. And there's 13 pieces of furniture to maneuver around in there.

originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: Ohanka

Yes, I agree. Older people resist automation. Young ones not so much.

I remember the push on Automated Teller Machines - I moved to Canada around 1980 when the Toronto Dominion Bank had just rebranded their ATM as the "Green Machine." A friend working in the banking industry was very involved in the transition to ATM's around the world - she was always travelling internationally for conferences about the "ATM Transition Strategy."

Long story short - bankers started the transition to ATM's around the end of the 1960's and knew it would take a full generation (human) for complete penetration. They planned on it. As far as I can tell, they were right about the timeline.

This time around, I doubt it will take any where near that long.

I'm 26 and I don't like the damn things. I think the AI overlords are plotting against me since they never work as intended.

Oddly enough I see more old people using the automated self-service things than young people.0

Although I would use the McDonalds one if I could actually get a veggie burger with no mayonnaise instead of a quarter pounder burger that for some reason cost £20.

a reply to: Bedlam

I never worked fast food or food service either but every one of my kids did while they were in high school.

Many grocery stores took out the self-check out machines. The average person isn't that bright and they found using the machines cumbersome and slow compared to a human cash register.

I typically will only use the self-checkout if I have five or fewer items.

originally posted by: Vector99
a reply to: butcherguy

Like I said, you have no idea how that "teenyboppers" day was going. She could have just been screamed at by an unruly customer, or an asshole boss, or dealing with a death in her family, or any number of situations, and while trying to maintain focus on doing her job was mentally distracted by it. She got the order right, so she was paying enough attention to the part that matters.

I guess some people will just look for any fault in a teen at a fast food joint no matter how trivial it is.

Or the guy on line before him was also a dick and she was upset over that. Somehow I feel less special now. He treats everybody badly.

I dream of a day when I can order from a kiosk or robot, have another robot make my food (correctly, unlike human workers), and then it gets dispensed to me automatically. No min wage human interaction or mistakes to deal with.

a reply to: soficrow

Hey I'm just shy of sixty. I and my fellow baby boomers grew up with the jetsons and 2001 a space odyssey and are very eager to embrace new technology. I was told I'd have a video phone in 1964 at the world's fair in NYC. I didn't get that until I got a smart phone in 2011 and still need Skype to connect visually.
I still don't have a flying car or a dog walking pad outside my door. And I still don't have my Rosey the robot vacuum. But I have a microwave that cooks food in an instant and I have a stove I can program to turn on and off and I have a washing machine that keeps rinsing the clothes until I remove them Sooooooo.

originally posted by: Sillyolme
a reply to: soficrow

I'm dying to get a roomba robot vacuum.. I don't know how long they hold a charge and my living room alone is 16 X 30. It would probably run out before it did one room. And there's 13 pieces of furniture to maneuver around in there.

Ah yes. A pox on the glitches! ...I hear they're getting ironed out but maybe think Deebot not roomba. Or like me, hold out for a UNIBOT.

Smart vacuum market heats up

Services robots outsold TVs in the Nov 11 online shopping festival

"It works beyond my expectations. The smart vacuum cleaner can not only pick up debris under the sofa, but also map the best routes to do cleaning," Zeng said. "It is not a toy, but a real helping hand."

He bought the Deebot, as the product is called, from the Suzhou-based Ecovacs Robotics Co, in September.

When its battery is about to die, Deebot DT85G, priced at 1,200 yuan ($170), can also find the charging base station and recharge itself.

...According to the International Federation of Robotics, the global sales of privately used service robots will increase to around 35 million units by 2018, and household robots will be right at the top of the future shopping lists of more consumers.

..."The global household robots market is growing about 25 percent annually, but in China, the growth rate is close to 70 or 100 percent," said Colin Angle, chairman and CEO of iRobot.

The firm launched a China-customized product in September. Starting at 1,999 yuan, the Braava jet mopping robot can mop hard floors to remove dust and stains.

...Last year, Ecovacs unveiled UNIBOT, a robot that can clean floors, control home appliances, surveil households and clean air.

And service robot sales in general:

Executive Summary World Robotics 2016 Service Robots

The total number of professional service robots sold in 2015 rose considerably by 25% to 41,060 units up from 32,939 in 2014. The sales value increased by 14% to US$ 4.6 billion. Since 1998, a total of about 220,000 service robots for professional use have been counted in these statistics. It is not possible to estimate how many of these robots are still in operation due to the diversity of these products resulting in varying utilization times. Some robots (e.g. underwater robots) might be more than 10 years in operation (compared to an average life time of 12 years in industrial robotics). Others like defence robots may only serve for a short time.

The complete Executive Summary of World Robotics 2016 Service Robots is downloadable as pdf.