China’s first robotic restaurant opens in Jinan City
Dalu Robot Restaurant, a futuristic concept restaurant with robots as servers, has been unveiled in Jinan City, Shandong province, said to be the first of its kind in China.
It features over a dozen robots as part of a massive ‘conveyer-belt type’ concept. Each robot cost about $6,000 to build. Loaded with motion sensors, it will stop when objects or people are in its path. Patrons can then take food and drink from the robot’s tray, or put empty plates on it. Some robots also have a manual override function to provision for cases when they become unruly. The entire kitchen, though, is staffed by human chefs.
The restaurant also features robot receptionists and dancers which greet customers with canned phrases. Some robots are designed to look like a female hostess.
Dalu Robot Restaurant was set up by the Shandong Dalu Science and Technology Company, a robotics manufacturing company, which designed and built its mechanical staff. There are plans to roll out an additional 30 robots in the coming months.
According to restaurant owner Zhang Yongpei, there are plans to roll out robots that are more human-like and resemble people in their movements and actions such as walking up and down the stairs, serving food directly on the table and pouring drinks.
Dalu Robot Restaurant and Shandong Dalu Science and Technology Company also plans to design more complex robots for service, industrial and farming sectors and market them across China.
