In this week’s food robot roundup, a robot gets its taste buds, delivery robot legislation marches forward and the impact of robots on jobs on college campuses.
Robot chef finds its taste buds
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have trained a robot “chef” to taste food at different stages of the chewing process and evaluate the taste to become better cooks. A probe attached to a robot arm acts like a saltiness sensor which the robot used to “taste” the dish as researchers varied the number of tomatoes, saltiness, and texture of the egg. The robot then tasted nine different variations of scrambled eggs and tomatoes at 3 different stages of the chewing process and then produced taste maps of each dish. In order to recreate the chewing experience, researchers used a blender to process the food. The robot was able to produce taste maps for each stage of the chewing process to better understand the flavor profile of the dish and assess the saltiness of the dish more quickly and accurately.
Study co-author Dr. Arsen Abdulali explained the significance of their achievement: “Current methods of electronic testing only take a single snapshot to form a homogenized sample, so we wanted to replicate a more realistic process of chewing and tasting in a robotic system, which should result in a tastier end product.” In the future, researchers are considering investigating the effect of saliva on taste by using chemical reagents in the sample to mimic the enzymes present in human saliva.
One eventual application of this technology is personalization. Much like how human chefs are able to make modifications to what they cook based on the diner’s preferences, robots that can taste and understand flavor and consistency may be able to adapt how they cook later down the road.
Lawmakers bring delivery robots to Rhode Island
Autonomous delivery startups typically expand their areas of operation state by state, but states vary in the rules and regulations they have toward autonomous vehicles.
In Rhode Island, lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives are sponsoring autonomous delivery bills that will allow unmanned vehicles to operate in streets and sidewalks. Despite the increasing popularity of delivery robots in other states like Texas and California, some are not optimistic about the prospect of Rhode Island’s adoption. In the past, similar legislation has not passed the General Assembly and the Division of Motor Vehicles has expressed opposition to robots in neighborhoods. The main concerns from the recent Senate hearing deliberating this new legislation include worries that delivery robots could damage pedestrian infrastructure with their heavy weight and fear that they could take away jobs from people.
Other concerns include possibly obstructing wheelchair users or those who are visually impaired or deaf. There have also been reports of accidents between robots and cars and trucks. Right now, legislation differs on municipal, state, and national levels, and in the past decade, at least 20 US states have passed laws with explicit regulation on delivery robot operation in regards to weight, cargo, sidewalk speed, and liability coverage.
For example in Pennsylvania, the legislation establishes design and safety standards and classifies autonomous delivery devices as pedestrians with the same rights as people, except for a few limitations. However, although legislation within a state standardizes operation with that state, there is still much variation between states. The speed limit for a robot on a sidewalk is 12 mph in Pennsylvania, 7pmh in Maryland, and 6 mph in Washington, which can make it difficult for startups operating across state borders to scale. Some are even calling for an international standard since some startups operate across borders. For example, Starship Technologies, which has robots on over 20 US college campuses in 15 states, is based in Estonia.
As for Rhode Island, lawmakers are still debating legislation that would allow robots to make deliveries, but this is just an example of a challenge that robot delivery startups are facing when it comes to expanding to new places.
Robots deliver jobs, not just food, to university students
College campuses are a popular launchpad for food delivery robots because of the concentration of customers that are tech-savvy and eager for a quick and convenient meal. While one ongoing concern about robotics is their potential to displace workers, the addition of delivery robots is having the opposite effect on some college campuses. At OSU, for example, robots have increased the number of on-campus jobs at most restaurants because it’s a full-time position to place food orders in the machine and send it off. In fact, this new job is called “Robot Runner” and another component is packing the order.
It’s unclear whether delivery robots are creating a net number of new jobs since they are replacing people who would otherwise make deliveries via bike or car. However, drivers are now traveling to customers farther away, with an increase in mileage of 43%. Delivery robots offer the opportunity for restaurants to reach a larger market and increase their sales, thus increasing a demand for labor at the restaurant itself.
Despite the net positive effect robots may be having in some college towns, they are not always well received. Two UT Austin students have been charged with vandalism after intentionally damaging a Starship delivery robot by slamming it onto the ground. Both students are facing a count of felony vandalism of over $2,500 since it costs $5,500 to replace a robot. While it’s difficult to discern the motive of the students, thankfully the occurrence of some incidents is extremely low as this is the first recorded incident of intentional damage done to a delivery robot on a college campus.
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