Flippy (robot)

2021: Flippy 2 Announcement

On November 2, 2021, Miso Robotics announced the release of a new version of its Flippy robot, which prepares hamburgers. A new device called Flippy 2 can cook food for fast food restaurants completely autonomously.

As noted in the release of Miso Robotics, the main feedback from employees about the original version was that Flippy needed too much help from a person in performing basic cooking tasks. This includes the initial handling of raw food and placing the finished food in a storage chamber. In fact, Flippy replaced the need to constantly control and regulate food during cooking, but not at the beginning or end of the process. Flippy 2 is equipped with a new AutoBin system for small volumes and special products such as onion rings or chicken tenders, providing restaurants with an even more functional and complete solution for frying. Each container can hold up to a full basket for frying, can be tailored to the specific needs of the kitchen and is differentiated for individual products such as vegetables and fish to prevent cross-contamination.

The fast food robot Flippy 2 came out, fully preparing the food itself

When the product is placed in the basket, artificial intelligence automatically identifies the product, lifts it, cooks it in the desired frying basket and places it in a hot zone. Eliminating the transfer task reduces the general contact of a person with products, reduces the likelihood of oil dripping from here and burns caused by lifting and moving baskets, and also provides a completely closed system in which Flippy 2 can work independently without human intervention in the middle of the process. This makes the system faster, increasing performance by 30% or about 60 baskets per hour, which is more than required in large-scale fast-service restaurants.

Like all technologies, Flippy 2 has evolved significantly compared to its predecessor, and we are very grateful that the information received from White Castle, the American regional hamburger restaurant chain, allowed us to truly advance its development in a real restaurant environment. Flippy 2 takes up already less space in the kitchen, and also exponentially increases performance, thanks to the new capabilities of filling, emptying and returning the baskets themselves. Since the device was created, our goal has always been to provide a customizable solution that can function harmoniously in any kitchen without failures, said CEO Mike Bell.

The company claims that a more compact version of the Flippy 2 robot can increase performance by almost a third compared to its predecessor, while requiring significantly fewer human hands. The second version of the device appears on the market at a time when restaurants faced a widespread shortage of jobs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Miso Robotics has several more pilot agreements with top national brands, including a recently announced partnership with Inspire Brands. Flippy 2 consolidates key tasks in utility rooms to increase the efficiency of catering enterprises and focuses on the $278.6 billion market, where it can be configured to cook any food the brand needs, including anything that can be fried.^[1]

2018: Robot failed to cope with high demand in fast food

In early March 2018, at one of the restaurants of the Caliburger fast food chain in the California city of Pasadena, a robot manipulator for frying burgers called Flippy was launched, designed to replace people chefs. However, only a day later the robot was turned off: the interest in the technological novelty was so great that the robot could not cope with the influx of customers.

According to USA Today, the restaurant owners had to suspend Flippy in order to upgrade and speed up its work. In addition, additional training is provided with staff so that employees more effectively assist the robot and help it faster fulfill orders.^[2]

Robot Cook Flippy

The developer of Flippy - the company Miso Robotics - said that it is already testing software that will increase the performance of the robot and allow it to cope with the load during peak demand hours. Before the launch of Flippy, the manufacturer stated that the robot is able to fry up to 2 thousand burgers a day. When exactly the robotic robot will begin its duties again is still unknown, reports BBC News.^[3]

The Cali Group, which owns the Caliburger fast food chain, said additional employee training was needed to increase Flippy's performance. Human cooks are instructed how to cook and where to place raw cutlets and other burger ingredients so that the robot can perform its functions as quickly as possible.

The Cali Group management notes that the decision to use robots to cook burgers is associated with high staff turnover in fast food restaurants. The company spends time and money training staff, but after a few months, employees understand that work is not easy, and leave the restaurant.

The Cali Group does not intend to abandon its venture and plans to equip all 50 restaurants of its chain with robotic chefs by the end of 2018.

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