Robochef

• Source: Global Times
• [09:15 March 17 2011]
• Comments

A robo-waiter rides a bicycle, serving drinks in Dalu Robot Restaurant in Jinan, Shandong Province. Photo: CFP

By Chen Yang

Jiang Ning brought her 7-year-old son to a new hotpot restaurant in Jinan, Shandong Province not only for the delicious food, but also for the charming waiters with their gleaming smiles and interesting voices.

"I feel like I'm entering a scene in Star Wars or 2001: A Space Odyssey," she said. "It's such an amazing place that my son is curious about everything."

Lulu, a feminine robot wearing a red cheongsam, greets Jiang's family at the entrance. Jenny, another feminine robot wearing a white skirt, dances to entertain customers.

The dining hall's blinking neon lights create a futuristic environment, and the 21 tables are set in a circular pattern so that the robo-waiters can ride bicycles around a track, serving food and drinks.

Dalu Robot Restaurant, which opened in December last year, has about 20 robots serving customers as receptionists, greeters, entertainers and waiters. These staff will never give you the cold shoulder, expect a tip, or ask their boss for a pay rise.

Fuwuyuan!

Zhang Yongpei, the owner of the restaurant, has a fascination for robots, and running the restaurant is just his sideline. "I began to research robots a decade ago, and our team has developed more than 70 kinds of robots with different uses," he said.
 
Zhang is president of Shandong Dalu Technology Company. He used to own a catering company with 80 employees. "I found that although their wages kept increasing, the staff loss rate was still high and the service quality needed to be improved," he said. "But with robotic servants, you don't need to worry about such problems."

The experience made him decide to open a restaurant with less troublesome staff. "It's simpler and less expensive to develop robots for a restaurant than for other businesses, and customers may easily accept robotic waiters."

In Zhang's restaurant, the only human employees are the chefs preparing food for the hotpot in the kitchen, and two technicians responsible for operating and maintaining the robots.

Other jobs such as greeting, serving and entertaining customers are all done by robots. The robots cost from 30,000 yuan ($4,563) to 100,000 yuan ($15,210), depending on the complexity of their structures and the skills they have.

Using the combination of human and robot labor, the restaurant can serve up to 300 customers at a time. "It's easier to manage my robotic employees," said Zhang. "The annual maintenance cost for a robot is just 200-300 yuan ($30.4-$45.6), and they can live up to 20 years."

Customers like these robotic servants too. "They are efficient and polite," said Jiang. "It would be nice if they could interact more with customers besides greeting and dancing."

Zhang says they will improve the robots' functions, such as remembering frequent customers' faces and serving at their table, as well as developing new robots to prepare food and clean up. "We plan to have 40 robots in the restaurant," he said.