BEIJING: With the push of a button, the big white robot lights up, and its spindly arms spring to life, grinding coffee beans and boiling a flask of hot water.
It takes 261 individual movements and three minutes for the Robotic Coffee Master – which resembles a Michelin man but with unusually long arms – to brew a cup of pour-over coffee.
The robot barista was launched on Sept 25 by Chinese robotics maker OrionStar in Beijing.
The Chinese firm and other industry experts are expecting demand for service robots like the coffee maker to rise in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic as businesses look to automation to both reduce risk of transmission of the virus as well as manpower costs.
OrionStar vice-president Su Liang said the company was keen to help small businesses like cafes reduce running costs.
“A robot like this only consumes electricity, once you pull the plug you don’t have to pay to keep it running,” said Su.
“With human staff, your ability to handle the disruption from a pandemic is very poor,” he added.
The company, which has deployed some 11,000 robots across China as at May this year, expects demand for service robots to “explode” in the next three to five years as a result of the pandemic and rising labour costs in the country. — The Straits Times/ANN
It takes 261 individual movements and three minutes for the Robotic Coffee Master – which resembles a Michelin man but with unusually long arms – to brew a cup of pour-over coffee.
The robot barista was launched on Sept 25 by Chinese robotics maker OrionStar in Beijing.
The Chinese firm and other industry experts are expecting demand for service robots like the coffee maker to rise in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic as businesses look to automation to both reduce risk of transmission of the virus as well as manpower costs.
OrionStar vice-president Su Liang said the company was keen to help small businesses like cafes reduce running costs.
“A robot like this only consumes electricity, once you pull the plug you don’t have to pay to keep it running,” said Su.
“With human staff, your ability to handle the disruption from a pandemic is very poor,” he added.
The company, which has deployed some 11,000 robots across China as at May this year, expects demand for service robots to “explode” in the next three to five years as a result of the pandemic and rising labour costs in the country. — The Straits Times/ANN
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