Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
Cappucino anyone? Caffe latte? Espresso?
The connected Mitsubishi 6-axis robotic arm at a Cafe X Robotic Coffee Bar will prepare your cup of coffee, and dispense it to you through one of several delivery bays, without human intervention, in a just few seconds, without waiting in line.
Considered a very high-end office vending machine or the “ultimate amenity for an office building lobby”, a connected Cafe X Robotic Coffee Bar brews coffee that is locally roasted, using local roaster and barista recipes, further calibrated with (human) taster ratings. The connected Cafe X Robotic Coffee Bar may also use different sorts of locally sourced premium milk (cow, soy, almond etc.)
The connected Cafe X Robotic Coffee Bar invention is recited in a family of patents that includes the patent applications US20170011442A1 and WO2017008726A1, both titled Method and system for automated food and beverage serving.
The connected Cafe X Robotic Coffee Bar invention seeks to address several problems of the prior art of both automated and non-automated food and beverage services. In particular, the invention seeks to resolve such issues, as miscommunication (i.e. when a customer orders one item and receives another), miscoordination of services (ie. when first-come, first-served orders, are incorrectly tracked), unprofitable costs of rental space and labor required for the production and delivery of the beverage services, excessive wait time for delivery of services, and absence of customization.
The Cafe X Technologies Inc.; invention comprises a central controller, coupled to memory-storage means for programmed instructions that can be executed. The instructions are able to process an order received from a customer. Another control system is connected to the central controller able to execute the customer order instructions using a robotic arm and various item-producing components, which together prepare the ordered item. The control system is further configured to position the order in a hold-zone, and to move an item in the hold-zone to the delivery bay engine, for service to the customer, who has arrived for pick-up (and keyed in a 4 digit pin).
The connected Cafe X Robotic Coffee Bar costs about US $50,000, dispenses about 250 cups per day, and thus is estimated to pay for itself in about 3 months. Compared to Starbucks revenues per square foot, estimated at US $342, the connected Cafe X Robotic Coffee Bar is estimated to generate US $10,000 per square foot. Compared to the average 10 minutes per cup wait time at a non-automated service location, the connected Cafe X Robotic Coffee Bar delivers 60 times faster. Most importantly, the connected Cafe X Robotic Coffee Bar is designed to deliver a premium quality that is anticipated to dissuade customers from waiting for their usual favorite cup of coffee.
The abstract for US20170011442A1 is included below, together with an image of the marketed (first generation) Cafe X Robotic Coffee Bar. The YouTube video above shows the robotic barista in action.
Disclosed is a system and method for automated serving of one or more items. According to the system and method, a central controller may initially capture order details associated to an order placed by a user for serving an item. A control system may trigger one or more item producing components along with a robot unit to collectively process the order in order to produce the item based upon the order details. Further, the control system may determine a hold zone position available from multiple hold zone positions in a predefined hold zone for holding the item corresponding to the order. Further, the robot unit may move the item produced corresponding to the order in the said hold zone position of the hold zone. The robot unit may dispense the item from the said hold zone position into a delivery bay engine thereby serving the item to the user.[Abstract US20170011442A1]
Reference
CAFE X Robotic Coffee Bar
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