Robots make French fries faster than humans in the US

French fries and onion rings are becoming a robotics reality, thanks to a company in Southern California.

Miso Robotics in Pasadena announced the launch of the Flippy 2 robot, which automates the process of frying potatoes, onions and other foods.

A large robotic arm like those in car factories, driven by cameras and artificial intelligence, takes frozen potato chips and other foods out of a freezer, dips them in hot oil, and then deposits the ready-to-serve product onto a tray.

Flippy 2 can cook multiple meals with different recipes simultaneously, reducing the need for kitchen staff and, Miso says, speeding up order delivery to drive-thru windows.

“When an order comes through the restaurant’s system, it automatically sends instructions to Flippy,” Miso CEO Mike Bell said in an interview.

“…It does it faster or more accurately, more reliably than most humans,” added Bell.

Miso said it took him five years to develop Flippy and recently made it commercially available.

The robot’s name comes from Flippy, an earlier robot designed to flip hamburgers on a griddle, but as soon as Miso’s team completed the job, they realized there was a bottleneck at the fried food station, particularly on the night shifts.

Miso engineers can see the Flippy 2 robots working in real time through a large screen, allowing them to help with any problems. A number of fast food chains have adopted the robot, including Jack in the Box, White Castle and CaliBurguer, Bell said.

The executive said three other major fast-food chains have put Flippy 2 to work, but said companies are hesitant to publicize the fact because of sensitivity over the perception that robots are stealing jobs from humans.

Miso Robotics has 90 engineers who either handle prototypes or work on programming. One of the company’s next projects is Sippy, a robot specializing in drinks that will be able to take the order, pour the drink into cups with lids and straws.

Bell said that one day people will walk into a restaurant and look at a robot and say, ‘Hey, do you remember the old days when humans used to do this kind of thing?’

“And these days are coming… It’s just a matter of how fast they come.”