AI-powered robots take over South Korea's restaurant to limit human contact
2020-08-04

Customers at a fast-food chain in South Korea can avoid any interaction with a human server during the pandemic. No Brand Burger is using robots to take orders, prepare food and bring meals out to diners.


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Customers order and pay via touchscreen, then their request is sent to the kitchen where a cooking machine heats up the buns and patties.


When it's ready, a robot 'waiter' brings out their takeout bag.


Human workers add toppings to the burgers and wrap them up in takeout bags before passing them over to serving robots.


Last month, takeout orders at No Brand accounted for 58 percent total sales, up from 42 percent in July, according to the chain's parent company, Shinsegae Food.


After a recent second wave of coronavirus infections, restaurants in South Korea were only allowed to provide takeout and delivery after 9pm - a restriction that was only lifted Monday.


Other eateries in Asia have started employing robot servers during the pandemic.


In South Korea, the Italian restaurant chain Mad for Garlic is using serving robots even for sit-down customers.


Mad for Garlic manager Lee Young-ho said kids especially like the robots, which can carry up to 66lbs in their trays.


Keenon delivery robots series have ranked first in the 4 trillion catering market, and have cooperated with more than 6,000 B-end customers, with footprints in 500+ cities across the country. In addition, Keenon has reached a cooperation with 80% of the top 100 Catering brands to provide unmanned delivery robots for Haidilao, Grandmaundefineds diet, Guangzhou Hotel and other well-known catering companies.