Robots behind the counter there as well, it's telling that the industry wants to break from the high staffing needs and problems it suffers, eliminate the amount of time, money, training on the owner/managers

quote:

Originally posted by TexasScrub:
This would never work out well at Hooters.

You might rethink that when you see the sex robots they are building in Asia.

Reports from Amsterdam are that customers prefer the sex robots to real women.

quote:

Reports from Amsterdam are that customers prefer the sex robots to real women.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Depends where you are on the Spectrum.

Wonder what gender the robot identifies as

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
I toured the Porsche factory probably 18 yrs ago and the robots they had delivering parts to workers were unreal. There was no chance of them not stopping for humans or other robots. They would travel hundreds of meters to pick up a load of pistons and cylinders and bring it to the guy who was installing them on a bench. Very impressive and probably old tech by now.

They have not progressed beyond that, in my experience with a few OEMs & suppliers (not Porsche). The only reason that the scenario you bring up makes any sense is that it costs so much to have a human do that job. I have found that robot delivery is proposed as a cost savings but usually you can get more savings by fixing the logistics waste of the process (bulk delivery, kitting or just moving the damn store location closer). just-in-time is pretty ingrained, but it's not always the right way to do it.
Not to mention the annoyance of robot traffic bringing all other traffic to a halt when timing is slightly off - it's damn near impossible to recover other processes when you have to cross robot paths.
As you can probably tell, I'm not a fan. I've shredded cost savings plans based around robots replacing human operators. Usually, the savings are overestimated, the cost is underestimated, the unforeseen issues are incalculable or ignored. I've also laughed, said 'I told you so' and walked away from some that are still in use that get bitched about constantly.

Looks like the thing can only follow the black stripe on the floor.

When it can only 'serve' four tables in the lobby, what good is it?

Hope it is kid friendly. You know how parents let them run around the restaurant. I can see them messing with the robot, not to mention teens who will definitely mess with it. This is not ready for prime time.

Back in the 90s one of my hospital customers were using robots to deliver medication from the pharmacy to nurse stations all over the hospital.
At the time I thought how accurate could this thing navigate. The hospital fire marshal told me it navigated using a wire embedded in the floor. It would pick up some sort of electrical signals and off it would go doing its rounds. It used sonar to detect objects in its path and would stop and wait for it to clear. If it did not clear it would make a sound to let people know it was there.
It is unbelievable how technology changed since then.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
Servers are, pretty much, the largest wasted cost in food service.

They can be nice people, and about 1 in ten really helps sales, but 20% of the gross to carry trays to a table is nuts.

Huh? Unless something changed in the past 12 years since I got out the foodservice biz, waitstaff has always been paid next to nothing by the restaurant with the understanding that tips would make up the difference.

I worked in places where the waitstaff was LEGALLY paid LESS than minimum wage, don’t know how the restaurant got away with it but they did.

Take away the tipping system we have here and you won’t find anyone willing to work a waitstaff job, ever. May as well make them all robot jobs at that point.

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:

quote:

Originally posted by TexasScrub:
This would never work out well at Hooters.

You might rethink that when you see the sex robots they are building in Asia.

Reports from Amsterdam are that customers prefer the sex robots to real women.

Uhhh... No. I don't think I would ever rethink that.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
Looks like the thing can only follow the black stripe on the floor.

When it can only 'serve' four tables in the lobby, what good is it?

Well, it's good for serving four tables.

quote:

Originally posted by Paten:

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:

quote:

Originally posted by TexasScrub:
This would never work out well at Hooters.

You might rethink that when you see the sex robots they are building in Asia.

Reports from Amsterdam are that customers prefer the sex robots to real women.

Uhhh... No. I don't think I would ever rethink that.

As long as they have a mute button....

Kiosks up front taking orders, robot burger flippers and robotic delivery to the table.

How far away is a completely automated McDonalds. Could a franchise owner run the restaurant single handedly? Order the burger online and pick it up at the drive through- 24/7/365.

^^^^^^^^^
And you could order from your flying car. What happens when they fuck you in the drive through?

That's an uncharge for the Happy Meal if you're in Amsterdam.

PASig, tips, and taxes, count as the overall cost of a meal. Look up a Laffler curve, if you aren’t familiar with it.

Braille diver, one of my acquaintances is the CEO of a McDonalds franchisee. They are installing robot kitchens as fast as they can, for a few hundred thousand a piece, and ordering kiosks.

No more errors, no more returns, and a handful of much better paid employees to keep the robots maintained.

The average worker cannot do 3rd grade math, and show up to work sober, and on time. I stopped hiring cheap labor years ago, as I couldn’t afford it.

I guess their future is selling their vote for Soylent green, pot and soma.

quote:

No more errors, no more returns, and a handful of much better paid employees to keep the robots maintained

^^^^^^
Let us know how this works out. Think you are being optimistic about errors and returns. Do you pay the robot? I think this system would be a hit in Japan, don't know about the U.S.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
…Think you are being optimistic about errors and returns. Do you pay the robot?…

You ever buy something from a vending machine? Ever have the machine fuck up and not give you your stuff? If so, would you say that vending machines aren’t ready for prime time?

We already buy shit from much more basic robots all the time. They fuck up and we either hunt down the one actual person on site when they do, or we kick the stupid thing and walk off grumpy. You buy gas from a robot. If you use the self checkout lane at the grocery store, you are being served by a robot. If you buy shit off the internet, most of that transaction is being handled by computers and robots. I think you underestimate just how used to living with robots we already are. It’s just that the robots we work with the most don’t look like people and we come to them instead of them coming to us. Gas pumps and vending machines are absolutely robots, they just aren’t allowed to walk around!

- Bret