It’s summertime in the northern hemisphere. That means it’s time to char pieces of meat on open flames.
But it’s hot, and there are probably sports to watch, or beer to consume, or other activities that are best enjoyed inside. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a robot with a cute little chef’s hat, a rakish mustache and a sharp German sense of humor that could grill up your bratwursts for you?
The FZI Research Center, at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, built the robot out of an off-the-shelf robotic arm and a consumer-grade tablet computer. Researchers taught it how to properly cook sausages, according to Popular Science, and with a rather traditional German efficiency, named it “BratWurst Bot.” Like any good human grill chef, the robot can identify when a brat is crisping up, and flip them accordingly. It can plate the sausages, and fill up any empty space on the grill.
It can also shake its digital mustache and make apparently witty German quips as it cooks, such as “heiss und fettig,” which means “hot and greasy,” according to FZI. The research facility said that the bot recently cooked 200 sausages at a local political party’s annual gathering in Berlin—apparently without killing or burning anyone.
Robots are coming for all sorts of jobs, and perhaps it won’t be long before the teller, the fry cook, and the server at your local fast food joint are all robots. Mein Gott.