Welcoming Chippy- Chipotle’s New Robotic Tortilla Chips Maker

Introducing Chippy, Chipotle's first-ever robotic kitchen assistant that prepares delicious tortilla chips

Robotics has made huge strides when it comes to the food and beverage industry. The integration of AI and robotics technology has truly revolutionized food production causing less food wastage, more freshness, and longevity in products. The restaurant sector is also reaping the benefits of the advancements of robotics by using autonomous kitchen assistants and robotic chefs to automate the basic and monotonous parts of cooking, keep the customers entertained, and provide the best quality services. Quite similarly, Chipotle's Chippy has been making headlines since it is the first robotic system that has been installed by the company. The restaurant chain revealed its plans to test an AI kitchen assistant named Chippy, who is capable of cooking and seasoning tortilla chips on its own.

The robot has been trained to follow the same techniques for creating chips as humans do. It includes ingredients like corn masa flour, water, and sunflower oil, cook the chips, and then season them with salt, and then add a hint of lime juice. Moreover, besides dipping the chips basket into the vat of hot oil, the system is also designed to season the chips with salt and lime juice. The robot is being tested at the Chipotle Cultivate Center, the company's innovation hub in Irvine, California. 

For this innovation, Chipotle partnered with Miso Robotics. While making tortilla chips might be one of the peak advancements of robotics in the restaurant industry, this partnership with Miso and Chipotle reveals the industry's eagerness to adopt disruptive, advanced technologies and provide the best possible services to its clients. Chipotle mentions that the company will currently test Chippy and the crew and investors will check out its capability before deciding on deploying on an international level. 

Tech experts say that the integration of AI and robotics in the restaurant, food, and beverage industry will cause job losses in employees in the industry. But truly, the industry will unveil a myriad of opportunities after the integration of robotics and other technologies.