Kuka delivers "world's first fast food robot... probably" to Bionicook

German intelligent automation company Kuka has delivered what has been called "probably the first fast food robot machine in the world" - the KR 3 Agilus - to the Brazilian company Bionicook which invented the cell in which it operates. The robot chef is now employed serving food, drinks and desserts to guests as “the world’s first fully automated fast food machine of its kind”.

With fast food companies turning over notoriously small profit margins, many within the industry have been searching for an automated solution to increase efficiency and take some of the work from human hands. 

Automation is now a staple in manufacturing and heavy industries and Kuka wanted to leverage the advantages of using automated machines in other sectors - including fast food.

Kuka built the robotic fast-food solution around its KR 3 Agilus robot. It worked with the Brazilian automation company Auttom to create “the world’s first fully automated fast food counter”.

The concept was presented at the Mind7 Startup trade fair in Caxias do Sul in May 2019.

With the fast food machine, customers can choose between 14 snacks, two desserts, three salads and 15 beverages. Guests place their order via a touch panel.

Once they have paid, the serving robot starts preparing the order.

It autonomously handles and serves the items. To do so, it fetches the food, cooks it if necessary and serves it.

The food is deep-frozen and pre-portioned. The robot serves the order within three minutes, and fills up to 100 orders per hour.

The KR 3 Agilus is small and agile and has a payload capacity of 3 kg, and a reach of 540 mm.

In a press release, Kuka said: "An ideal basis for the fully automated fast food counter: the robot delivers meals in a minimum of time – around the clock, seven days a week."

While Kuka's claim that KR 3 Agilus is the world's first fast food robot may be true, despite the 'probably' caveat, it is not the first machine employed serving food. Last year, French firm Pazzi launched the Pazzi Pizzaiolo which made pizza at what the company claimed was the world's first fully-automated restaurant.

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