We've been working on a robotic cooking machine. This is something designed to automate a class of foods - think stir fry, curry, chili, etc. We're kicking off a beta test this week and would be curious to get any feedback you might have. Thanks!
Makes food that requires heating and stirring. Saves recipes for later playback.
Actuators / output devices: DC Gear motors, relay controlled heating element
Control method: Arduino, Bluetooth, android
Operating system: Android
Power source: 120v AC wall power
Programming language: Arduino, Android
Sensors / input devices: Limit switches. Sensors on smart phones.
Target environment: kitchen, caterers, home automation, restaurant
It needs a face. I have seen a study that shows improved human-machine interaction when there is a face, as opposed having just an ordinary GUI. But otherwise, I find this most interesting and potentailly even practical.
I don’t care wether it has a face or not. As long as it cooks, and it cooks well, I’m really impressed. As a lazy person I find that this will push me to cook more often.
Interesting idea. So far we’ve tried to keep it as utilitarian as possible - no features unless they were absolutely needed, but this might be something to look into to help the user experience. Thanks!
… as the person using it :). It takes a little while to get the hang of it (we initially weren’t very good at estimating how long food would take to cook), but the great thing is once you figure out a recipe, you can save it and repeat it exactly every time. Thanks for your comment!
I wanted to comment on your point on practicality - this robot is extremely practical. I like to cook quite a bit and I use this around 3 times a week, each time saving me 45 min to 1 hr.
Regarding practicality, I am Regarding practicality, I am just judging that you still have to stand there and chop/clean/input/plate the food, so while this wonderful gizmo is able to save a good chunk of time when cooking, you still have to check back on it when it can’t do a step on its own. By the way, do you have an alarm function to call the user in order to perform the more complex functions of a saved recepie?
From a technology perspective, it is pretty cool and an interesting idea.
I assume since you are moving this to beta that you are thinking of selling this commercially. As a cook, it is not something I would buy or use much in the cooking I do for my family (I do the cooking in our house). Counter space for almost anyone in a kitchen is at a premium and this doesn’t do enough to have a place on my counter. It would end up in the hutch with the china, the bread maker, the crockpot, the pasta maker, the food processor etc and gather dust since it really would be helpful only for making soups, chilis, things that aren’t really heavy and don’t have to be thoroughly mixed.
If I am cooking for a large number of people, it might be worth pulling it out and having to clean it afterwards. It would be nice for doing risottos (it is 20 minutes of stirring on those types of recipes), maybe gravies for a roast or some such. It might be great for college students etc. or people starting out. Maybe it could be something that attaches to the side of a pot or could be the top for a pot that it comes with so it would have broader appeal.
Anyways, just trying to be helpful and give you feedback as a cook. Good luck with your idea.
There are certainly limitations. Right now the only call function is an alarm that goes off when the user is supposed to do something. Future versions of the software will probably text the users to come back and perform an action.
We’d love to sell this commercially, and we’re trying to get a sense of the market. Definitely appreciate your feedback.
I should mention though - even though the arm is skinny, it can stir heavy foods and mix them thoroughly. I routinely do 4/5 pounds of meat and everything gets thoroughly mixed. It moves slow, but it moves constantly and it eventually breaks everything down. We’ll be putting out a new video every week or so on the website - take a look and let us know what you think!
