Corona Daily 380: Asimov Now

They don’t cough or sneeze, shake hands or hug, get sick or tired, form trade unions, or ask for overtime. The robots are here. The robot revolution has started and is unlikely to stop post-pandemic.

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China’s Foodom Tianjiang Kingdom is a new robot restaurant complex where both chefs and waiters are robots. It claims to be the world’s first restaurant where customers have no human contact. Once customers place orders on their smartphones, the chef gets activated. One arm is engaged in stir-frying, the other adds spices. (Like Indian gods, robots can have several arms). The dish, with its precise proportion of ingredients, is ready in minutes. The chef doesn’t have the unhygienic practice of tasting what he has prepared. Chefs can easily flip burgers, bake bread, make salads. The waiter robot then delivers food to the customer’s table. An increasingly popular place, Foodom served more than 10,000 customers on May Day holiday.

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Fairfax city in the USA is using small cube-shaped robots that mechanically walk on the sidewalks and streets. Starship technologies, their creator, operates a fleet of delivery robots. They deliver from restaurants and grocery stores. Business boomed after they began delivering alcohol. Currently Starship robots serve 180,000 customers in five countries.

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India, even India, with its 1.4 billion population is not spared. Milagrow, an Indian robot maker, has launched four humanoid robots.

RoboDiCaprio is the Guest Relations Robot, 155 cm tall, recognizes masked faces. (Many robots in the world are now retrained to use voice recognition). It interacts with guests entering hotels, and serves their basic needs at the reception counter.

RoboJulia, also 155 cm tall, is capable of serving in restaurants. She explains the menu, takes orders, and brings food to the tables. Unlike a human, she can serve food to three tables at once.

RoboNano is a personal companion, who can work in corporate offices as well as help individuals. He is equipped with Amazon’s Alexa. He can order your pizza online, book your Uber, track your fitness stats, operate your TV, and play the music of your choice.

Roboelf is the healthcare robot. He is already deployed at hospitals in Delhi and Mumbai. 92 cm tall, he moves at a speed of 3 km/hour but with his censors won’t ever collide with anyone. He costs $8000.

All four robot types can work non-stop for 12 hours on a single charge. Then it takes four hours to recharge them. (Just like humans requiring eight hour sleep).

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Humanoid robots are used in a big way to disinfect floors, check temperatures. In Denmark, robots are taking swab tests, without wearing PPE. As a result, since June, Denmark is the world leader in the number of tests per 1000 people. In UK’s Derby, UV-C emitting robots are disinfecting wards in a hospital in minutes. The hospital is so happy they would want to use them forever. In the coronavirus battle, robots are playing a major role in the health care industry.

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At a baseball game in Fukuoka, Japan, Softbank’s humanoid robots called ‘Pepper’ occupied the stadium stands. With incredible timing, the “fans” danced, screamed, cheered the players. They performed the choreographed dance that Softbank Hawks fans usually do.

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The revolution is pervasive. Stay tuned for more robot news tomorrow.

Ravi