After months of practice in the art of fast-food preparation, "Flippy," has finally taken up a position as grill cook on the line at Caliburger's Pasadena restaurant.
"It's not a fun job — it's hot, it's greasy, it's dirty," acknowledges John Miller, the CEO of Cali Group, which runs the international fast-food chain.
Even so, it could be the beginning of a bright career for Flippy in an industry that is otherwise notorious for high employee turnover.
It certainly helps that Flippy, a burger-flipping robot developed by Miso Robotics, shows no concern about the low wages, meager benefits or long hours that plague the industry. The robot is reportedly capable of grilling 150 burgers per hour.
According to a press release from Miso, the company — which bills Flippy as the world's first burger-flipping robot — began working with Caliburger two years ago to develop it as a "cost-effective and highly efficient solution" that is "specifically designed to operate in an existing commercial kitchen layout and to serve alongside kitchen staff to safely and efficiently fulfill a variety of cooking tasks."
"The kitchen of the future will always have people in it, but we see that kitchen as having people and robots," David Zito, co-founder and CEO of Miso Robotics, told KTLA in Los Angeles. "This technology is not about replacing jobs — we see Flippy as that third hand."