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Robotics Japan

New Soba Noodle-Making Robot at Japan Train Station Eatery Can Cook 150 Servings an Hour (mainichi.jp) 66

Posted by msmash from the living-in-future dept.
A two-armed robot is helping to prepare soba noodles at an eatery at JR Kaihimmakuhari Station in this Chiba city's Mihama Ward (in Japan), capably boiling the noodles in a strainer, rinsing them and then dipping them in iced water. From a report: The Sobaichi Perie Kaihimmakuhari eatery implemented a collaborative cooking system, with the robot cooking the food and employees adding the dipping sauce or soup and toppings. It is apparently the first time for the cooking robot to be introduced in an actual restaurant setting. Soba stands at railway stations usually have to deal with a constant stream of customers and work under time pressure, resulting in a chronic shortage of human resources. [...] The robot fetches soba noodles from a box with one arm, and places it in a strainer. Then with the other arm, it picks up the strainer and boils the noodles for a minute and 40 seconds, rinses off the viscous film on the surface and then dips the noodles in iced water to bring out their firmness. The robot can cook 150 servings in an hour, substituting the work of about one employee.
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New Soba Noodle-Making Robot at Japan Train Station Eatery Can Cook 150 Servings an Hour More

New Soba Noodle-Making Robot at Japan Train Station Eatery Can Cook 150 Servings an Hour

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  • possibly misleading (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Altus ( 1034 ) on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @01:14PM (#61168750) Homepage

    As I understand it, the real work and skill and art in making soba is in making the dough and cutting the noodles. Cooking them is at least a little more straight forward.

    • Automating the process of making food has been easy for decades. What would impress me is if they could automate the ingestion of supplies and the clearing out of waste.

      • A couple of employees. Apples go in, boxes come out ready to be delivered to grocery stores. This was over a decade ago when I still had cable TV.

        Another good one, go look up the videos of Valve's steam control or the Gundam factory.

        A lot of modern factories don't have lighting, and if you're in there to repair or do maintenance (they're still mechanical) you have to bring your own. That's because there's so few humans you don't need it.

        Oh, and my last video card from Asus proudly proclaimed on

      • curious.
        does this machine pick up the noodle containers and throw them away

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by nospam007 ( 722110 ) *

        "Automating the process of making food has been easy for decades. What would impress me is if they could automate the ingestion of supplies and the clearing out of waste."

        So IOW you want food that needs only to be heated before you throw it in the toilet?

    • As I understand it, the real work and skill and art in making soba is in making the dough and cutting the noodles.

      I bought a noodle machine on Amazon that makes good soba. I put some buckwheat flour, some durum flour, and some water in the hopper, then push the button. The machine kneads the dough and extrudes the noodles. The quality seems to be as good as any restaurant.

    • Actually, your subject was rather misleading. It's the entire process that matters. Unless you're an MBA, in which case the only thing that matters is profit maximization. Indigestion in the customers and job stress on the robot tenders are to be ignored. What part of "profit" cares about pleasant atmosphere?

      The problem with profit-driven efficiency is that we wind up with more excess time, and we already have too much. However I'm insufficiently motivated to do another ekronomics spiel. Instead, I'll ask "

  • I for one... (Score:4, Funny)

    by BradyB ( 52090 ) on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @01:28PM (#61168816) Homepage

    I for one welcome, our noodle slinging overlords.

    • Not saying I disagree in principle, but

      A two-armed robot is helping to prepare soba noodles at an eatery

      I prefer my robots to be unarmed!

  • It puts a block of noodles in a strainer, dips it in boiling water, takes it out after almost 2 minutes, rinses noodles, then dips them in ice water. That’s not much of a “robotic” task. When I think “robot”, I think roomba vacuum or Boston dynamics https://www.wired.com/story/yo... [wired.com] , not something as simple as putting noodles in and out of boiling water.

    • indeed could do everything with 200 year old tech, even without electricity.

    • I think the most interesting part is it's not using a special-purpose robot. For ubiquitous jobs like washing dishes everybody uses a specialized machine (that is, a diswasher). Or on a production line, you'd have purpose-built machines for boiling noodles in huge batches, with far more throughput. But that limits low-volume production of last-minute stuff you want to do on-premises so it's fresh.

      When there is a cheap reliable standardized robot that can do a lot of different jobs, then we will see m

    • " When I think “robot”, I think roomba vacuum "

      I don't like my noodle-robot to run around like mad before falling down the stairs.

    • Technically, yes. It is a robot.

      Oxford [lexico.com] defines a robot as: "a machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically"

      The essence is that it can do it automatically.

      While not as impressive as somersaulting through hoops or "Data" from Star Trek TNG, it is technically a robot.

      If these were affordable and commercially available, restaurateurs and chip truck owners could operate with reduced staff. That could be very useful - especially during

    • This sort of thing frustrates me to no end. It's so remarkably inefficient to make a robot replicate human actions instead of redesigning the task to better suit automation. This is like sticking a suction cup on one arm and a sponge on the other and making a "dish washing robot". A dishwasher is far more efficient of a machine than trying to recreate human actions.

      Yes, it's novel. Yes, it's something to look at. But that doesn't make it particularly good at the job.

      • It's so remarkably inefficient to make a robot replicate human actions instead of redesigning the task to better suit automation.

        So tell us, in this situation, how would you redesign the task to better suit automation? I'm not sure how you can get any simpler than picking up noodles, dunking them in water, rinsing, then putting in bowl.

        A dishwasher is far more efficient of a machine than trying to recreate human actions.

        No, it's not, for the simple fact people have to make sure they don't h

        • Load the noodles onto a conveyor belt basket
          Lower the basket into a bath of hot water
          Pull it out and lower it into a bath of cold water
          Tip the basket contents into a bowl

          That is how automated food production is generally done

          • This robot involves simply installing the robot at the site.
            Your suggestion involves redesigning the site to accommodate the robot.
            Yes, for new construction, it may make more sense.
            But in these use cases (small food stand at train station) it probably makes more sense to match the robot to the location.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rworne ( 538610 )

        This is like sticking a suction cup on one arm and a sponge on the other and making a "dish washing robot".

        It may be a dishwashing robot, but beware that you are halfway to making a Dalek. Heck, give it a loofa instead and install a voice chip making it shout "Exfoliate! Exfoliate!"

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by JustNiz ( 692889 )

      Really? My Roomba is as dumb as a rock. If I'd have known before I'd bought it that the path-finding algorithm on it was so awful, I wouldn't have wasted $650 on one.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • 15 minutes is a small apartment.

        • 15 minutes = 13 hours per year. Assume the roomba lasts 3-4 years., and it'll save 50 hours

          Yeah, I'd pay $650 to save myself 50 hours on a task I don't particularly enjoy. That's not even factoring in the side benefit of cleaner floors from having the roomba run a few times per week, rather than vacuuming the place myself just once a week. It's also kinda fun to have a robot driving around.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by JustNiz ( 692889 )

          It would take far more than 15 minutes to vacuum my house.

  • Automating mind-numbing jobs like food preparation and serving is an appropriate use for robots and should be expanded. Fast food outfits should not require more than resupply and repair.

    This is a step in the right direction.

    • a purely mechanical device can do this, could have had a belt or chain drive machine in 1900 doing this.

      "Robot" my ass

    • I actually find a fair bit of satisfaction and even some joy in food preparation, but that may just be because I'm not doing it day in and day out as part of a job. People probably should focus more on their meal preparation as I've found that I eat considerably more healthy now than I used to. Maybe someone can automate the mind-numbing job I have so that I can spend more time doing some of these supposedly mind-numbing tasks someone else wants to automate.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        Yeah, you wouldn't find it satisfying if you were doing it in a train station for commuters. Many tasks are enjoyable when doing them a few times a day, and mind numbing when doing them a few times a minute.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Byproduct of Fight for 15? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by schwit1 ( 797399 ) on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @01:55PM (#61168920)

    Human cost goes up while automation costs go down.

    Soon their will be few unskilled jobs left for humans.

    • Human cost goes up while automation costs go down.

      Soon their will be few unskilled jobs left for humans.

      In addition, the definition of "unskilled" will change. Back in the day, you were not a computer programmer unless you could code in assembly language, and the old timers who had coded in octal looked down on those of us who needed an assembler. Today, anybody who can code in C is a programmer.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by tmjac ( 1247502 )
        More importantly, anyone who can code in C, C++, C#, Delphi, etc... look at someone writing assembly language for anything other than a embedded ECU and ask "Why would you do something like that? If no one else knows how to do it, you can NEVER go on vacation".

        • More importantly, anyone who can code in C, C++, C#, Delphi, etc... look at someone writing assembly language for anything other than a embedded ECU and ask "Why would you do something like that? If no one else knows how to do it, you can NEVER go on vacation".

          Assembly language isn't hard to learn. If I were involved in such a project I would train my associates in the assembly language so I could take a vacation.

          • No, but the hacks it allows above and beyond what C can turn a blind eye to is harder to teach.

            • No, but the hacks it allows above and beyond what C can turn a blind eye to is harder to teach.

              Well, of course I wouldn't have to teach the hacks because I wouldn't practice them. For example, modern computers have index registers, so there is little or no need for self-modifying code.

    • Completely unrelated to the fight for $15.

      $15 might speed the adoption by a few years, but robots are getting cheaper and more capable every year. Once a robot is capable of doing the job, don't kid yourself that paying people starvation wages would do anything more than slightly slow the move to automation. Even Chinese factories are becoming increasingly automated, and they pay some of the lowest wages in the industrialized world.

      • Even Chinese factories are becoming increasingly automated, and they pay some of the lowest wages in the industrialized world.

        Actually those salaries are relatively good once you account for lower costs of living. There's no reason for Chinese factories to pay Switzerland salaries when their COL is just a fraction.

        Don't go by salary alone. You need to account for COL, or better yet, PPP.

        • No, you don't.

          We're not discussing the purchasing power of salaries - we're comparing the cost of paying a salary to the cost of buying a robot instead. And like laptops, cars, and other durable goods, robots cost pretty much the same everywhere.

    • and then the robots can cook noodles for other robots....or they didn't need it? ....return to square 1?

    • Remember, this is in Japan. "The fight for $15" is not particularly relevant to their labor economy. Conditions on the ground there are quite different than in the United States wrt birth rates, cultural acceptance of technology as a replacement to human labor, etc.

      • Remember, this is in Japan. "The fight for $15" is not particularly relevant to their labor economy. Conditions on the ground there are quite different than in the United States wrt birth rates, cultural acceptance of technology as a replacement to human labor, etc.

        Yep, but it's more than that. I've been in Japan, and I've seen first-hand the differences. There's rising poverty in Japan, and purchase parity per capita is lower than ours.

        With that said, the average Japanese citizen doesn't need to worry about health care. My wife (a Japanese national) and I once suffered a bout of food poisoning in Yokohama, and had to stay in the hospital overnight, getting pumped by IV antibiotics. That whole ordeal plus the follow-up check-ups and the prescribed medicines cost bot

        • We often hear of what life is like for the Japanese salaryman, but we don't hear much about those in lower tiers of employment - such as someone who might cook soba noodles for a living (only to be replaced by a robot).

          • We often hear of what life is like for the Japanese salaryman, but we don't hear much about those in lower tiers of employment - such as someone who might cook soba noodles for a living (only to be replaced by a robot).

            Well, I'm telling you, it is not doom and gloom. The fact you repeated this indicates you didn't read what I wrote at all (not surprising.)

            I reiterate, people don't get replaced or laid off (typically). They are simply assigned to other tasks, and Japanese consumers tend to prefer to pay extra (when they can) for personalized service. There's a reason why hole-in-the-wall mom-n-pop shops still exist (and thrive) in Japan.

            The real problem is with convenience store franchises like 7-11s and Lawson drive

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cusco ( 717999 )

      UBI is going to be a necessity soon. Once upon a time a farm hand could go screw on lug nuts when the tractor replaced him, but there are no new unskilled low education jobs coming in the future. Sure, it goes against the Calvinistic mindset so ingrained in the US, but unless people want to see families starving under bridges by the end of the decade there really doesn't seem like any alternative is on the horizon.

      • Why shouldn't they? These people voted for Trump. Let them get what's coming to them. They had their chance. Let them suffer, it's what they deserve for voting for a racist.

    • Human cost goes up while automation costs go down.

      Soon their will be few unskilled jobs left for humans.

      All jobs are unskilled when the bar goes up.

      The ability to type was a high skill. Not anymore.

      The ability to drive a car was a highly sought skill. Not anymore.

      The ability to do what-if analysis was a rare skill. In the age of Excel, that has not been true in almost two decades (I studied accounting back in the day when we used long balance sheets by hand, so I remember that.)

      The current crop of non-skilled jobs will disappear, with existing jobs becoming "less" skilled as skills go "meta" and newe

  • Join my new company (Score:3)

    by edi_guy ( 2225738 ) on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @03:20PM (#61169234)

    My plan is to take $0.59 Cup O Noodles ramen noodles. Stock a machine full of them, any flavor you want. Shrimp flavor, chicken flavor, beef flavor. Customer places their order, 'robot' takes a cup, punches a hole in lid and fills with boiling water. Video screen plays a 45 second anime clip while the cup cools a tiny bit. Cup is presented to customer with a complimentary spoon, and their credit card is charged $4.99.

    • Video screen plays a 45 second anime clip

      I think the Boston Robotics "do you love me" clip would be more appropriate!

  • Just drop 1,000 if these in a Hunger Zone and the hungry people will be fed.
    Overnight!
    Instantly!

    World Hunger Solved!

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] for those who don't get the reference

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