Upon the successful pilot in Pasadena, White Castle, a fast-food hamburger chain, has expanded its partnership to implement 10 additional “Flippy Robot-on-a-Rail (ROAR)” systems from Miso Robotics in 2021.

Flippy ROAR is an autonomous grilling and frying kitchen assistant arm that can be installed under a kitchen hood. The robots are equipped with sensors and cameras capable of tracking inventory and notifying staff when supplies are needed. Additionally, Miso Robotics’ kitchen assistant software, ChefUI, can be integrated with delivery apps, syncing order completion with pick-up time. 

The pilot project with White Castle was formally launched in September (announced in July) this year, and to date, the robot has served 14,580 lbs of food and more than 9,720 baskets.

Rising concerns for food safety and contactless food preparation amid the Covid-19 pandemic encouraged White Castle to test implementing such robots at its outlets. The company believes deploying robots would improve not only customer satisfaction but also the efficiency of kitchen operations.

In addition to White Castle, the Flippy ROAR has been deployed at a CaliBurger, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and Chase Field in Phoenix. VentureBeats reports that the company plans to expand its footprint to include more than 50 CaliBurger locations in the future.