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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Hyundai

South Korea: Hyundai and Woowa Brothers Partner for Delivery Robots

Hyundai Motors and Woowa Brothers announced this past weekend that they are partnering to develop last-mile food delivery robots.

Woowa Brothers, which operates the popular Baedal Minjok food delivery service in South Korea, launched its robot program last summer, making deliveries to Gwanggyo Alley Way, a housing complex in Gwanggyo, Suwon city.

According to the Korean Economic Daily, the Woowa and Hyundai signed a Memorandum of Understanding last Friday outlining two phases of development. The first will have robots autonomously taking deliveries from the entrance of a residential building to an apartment’s front door. (Presumably a human delivery driver would bring the order from the restaurant to the robot.) Later on, the two companies will work on robots that can autonomously make the entire journey from a restaurant or delivery hub to a customer’s home.

This agreement appears to build on a relationship that Woowa and Hyundai Elevator entered into last year. The two companies were also working with networking development platform HDC-I Controls to develop robots capable of gaining access to a secure building and autonomously riding an elevator once inside.

The global pandemic has spurred interest in contactless delivery, and a number autonomous robot delivery services have launched around the world. In Russia, Yandex is making robot food deliveries in Moscow. In Turkey, both Delivers AI and Bizero are doing robot delivery. And here in the U.S., there are a number of delivery robot players including Starship, Kiwibot and Refraction AI.

Woowa’s partnership with Hyundai, however, is exciting because we’re starting to see what happens when you connect various automated services together to create a truly autonomous last mile. Elsewhere in South Korea, LG is using its robots to make deliveries from a convenience store to the LG Science Park. Once inside, the the LG robot can ride the elevator and navigate between different floors to make deliveries.

If you are interested in the future of robot delivery, be sure to attend our ArticulATE virtual conference on May 18. It will bring together all the best thought leaders in the food robotics and automation space for one day of insight and foresight. Get your ticket today!

KFC Partners with Hyundai in Korea for Chicken Frying Robots

Hyundai Robotics announced today that it has partnered with KFC Korea are to develop robots that can cook chicken, reports The Korea Herald.

There weren’t many details in the story other than that “KFC Korea will provide its stores and cooking know-how under the deal,” according to The Herald.

However, the KFC Korea/Hyundai partnership reinforces two trends we’ve been seeing over the past couple of years. First is the continued partnership between massive automation companies and various food-related entities to develop food-related robots. The second is that — wow — who’d a thunk that KFC companies would be leading the charge into the future of food tech?

We’ve known for a while that food presents an interesting challenge for roboticists. Because it is often oddly-shaped and susceptible to bruising and damage, food is a good test case for robot manipulation. If a robot is sensitive enough carefully handle an egg, it can definitely apply that skill to other fragile materials in more industrial settings.

The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has added another reason for big companies to get into food robots, as restaurants and eaters seek out more contactless experiences. As a result, restaurant interest in food automation is surging. The reasons are pretty straightforward, robot cooks don’t get sick, can work around the clock, and can create more social distance in the kitchen.

Hyundai and KFC is the latest food company + industrial conglomerate partnership we’ve seen form over the past couple of years. Previously Panasonic teamed up with China’s Haidilao hot pot restaurant chain to open a robot-run kitchen, and LG is working with Korea’s Woowa Brothers to develop server robots.

But just as, if not more interesting are the moves international KFC companies are making when it comes to restaurant tech innovation. In addition to KFC Korea’s forthcoming chicken frying robots, KFC Russia has a Moscow location using a network of devices and conveyor belts to automate meal service, and the company announced in July that it was launching an initiative to use 3D bioprinters to create chicken meat.

KFC may not be able to say it’s finger-lickin’ good any longer (thank you, pandemic), but the company’s finger is definitely on the pulse of food automation.