Flippy, the hamburger-cooking robot, gets more capable

Following its recent pilot in select White Castles, Miso Robotics today announced a new version of its hamburger-cooking robotic arm, Flippy. The new version of the robot, simply named Flippy 2, is designed to further automate simple cooking tasks for fast food establishments.

As Miso notes in a release, primary staff feedback on the original version is that Flippy required too much human assistance on either side of its primary cooking tasks. That includes the initial handling of the uncooked foodstuff and putting the cooked food in the holding era. Basically Flippy was replacing the need to constantly monitor and adjust the food while cooking, but not much in the lead-up or follow-through.

Image Credits: Miso Robotics

Per Miso CEO Mike Bell:

Like all technologies, Flippy 2 has evolved significantly from its predecessor, and we are extremely grateful for the insights collected from White Castle to truly push its development forward in a real restaurant environment. “Flippy 2 takes up less space in the kitchen and increases production exponentially with its new basket filling, emptying and returning capabilities. Since Flippy’s inception, our goal has always been to provide a customizable solution that can function harmoniously with any kitchen and without disruption.

Miso says the more compact version of the robot is capable of increasing throughput by nearly a third over its predecessor, while requiring significantly less human hand-holding. The second Flippy arrives as restaurants are facing widespread employment shortages amid the pandemic.