Remember that robot that took the internet by storm over the weekend when it made a cappuccino on a La Marzocco GS/3 WITH latte art? It was created by Bubble Lab to showcase at CES 2017, the annual consumer electronics show held in Las Vegas, and as CNET reports, it wasn’t the only coffee-making automaton at the convention this year.
Three other robot attendees to CES were doling out coffee and tea, their metal arms flying about all nimbly bimbly as they tried to keep up with customer orders during the noontime rush. Well, not really. They were actually taking their sweet-ass time with each beverage, but this is first-gen tech. They’ll get there.
One robot, made by Bosch, was all about customer service. Projecting buttons onto the countertop, this robo-rista let you choose between a cappuccino, latte, and an Americano, even complementing your selection (Oh, Robot, I’m sure you say that to all the customers, you charmer you) and putting your name on your cup. But once it came time to make a drink, the Bosch robot relied on an automatic machine to do all the prep.
The other two bots though, made by Aubo and Denso, needed no such assistance behind the bar. According to CNET’s Patrick Holland, who was there to see the automagic firsthand:
The Aubo tea robot heated a kettle of water, scooped a spoonful of tea leaves, poured the hot water over the tea leaves and poured the tea into a cup.
The Denso coffee robot was my favorite to watch, largely because it had two robot arms that worked in sync to make a pour-over coffee. One robot arm prepped the filter while the second arm poured hot water over the grounds. When it got to the bottom of the kettle of water, the robot even flicked its hand to get all the water out.
Holland named the Denso pour over bot the winner of the taste test.
It’s unlikely any of these robotic arms will be taking over coffee shops any time soon. But might this be the start of the rise of the machines in cafes? I don’t know. All I’m saying is, baristas better be ready for a Paul Bunyan-like face off to save the jobs of coffee professionals everywhere. The humans already lost Round 1, but I hear there have been some pretty significant upgrades made to the Cho-bot.
Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network.
*all media via CNET
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