Meet the New “Iron Chef” Making You Dinner

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Meet the New “Iron Chef” Making You Dinner

By Nikia Wade, Technology Correspondent

The future is coming – and it’s coming to your kitchen.

Imagine: You’ve had a long, hard day at work, and you’ve battled through traffic for an hour to get home. You’re tired, fed up, and the last thing you feel like doing is cooking dinner.

Well, fear not . . . you don’t have to resort to eating cereal or ordering takeout.

Dinner is served . . .  tech-style . . .

Like Gordon Ramsey  . . .  But Without the Yelling

If you thought robot maids and cooks were just fantasy – like something out of The Jetsons – think again.

British firm, Moley Robotics, has designed your very own personal robot chef!

And it’s an ingenious design, too.

Moley is working with 2011 Masterchef U.K. champion Tim Anderson to develop a specially designed kitchen for the robot and train it to become a chef.

First, the company uses 3-D cameras to record Anderson at work in the kitchen. The images are then uploaded to a computer.

Then, the robot gets to work itself. Using its two robotic arms, it’s actually programmed to reproduce Anderson’s exact movements and actions to create a meal from scratch.

In fact, the robot managed to make Anderson’s signature crab bisque recipe in less than half an hour.

But should you think the robot is just restricted to making simple soup and sandwiches, Anderson says, “If it can really mimic my hands and any chef’s hands, then with some work on it, there’s no reason it can’t do just about anything. Kneading bread, making sushi, all these things that are very hands on, for lack of a better term.”

So what’s the secret to the robo-chef’s dexterity?

A Real Hands-on Experience

For the last 30 years or so, East London’s Shadow Robot Company has tried to perfect the robot hand.

Its remit is simple: Make it as close to the human hand as possible.

Moley Robotics has partnered with Shadow Robot Company on the project. And as Moley’s Founder, Mark Oleynik, says, “This is our target point, to make it human. Everything that people create, they create by hand, so this is a key point to how people transfer their human intelligence.”

Indeed, NASA is currently studying the robotic hand, and it’s already being used in the nuclear industry, too.

Take a look at the technology in action, as the robot mixes the ingredients for the soup, selects the right heat level, and serves it . . .

Coming to a Kitchen Near You

Moley Robotics plans to market its high-tech chef in 2017. But not before the robo-sous chef finishes training under Anderson.

While the robot has currently mastered Anderson’s crab bisque, with further programming, it’ll be able to cook an incredible 2,000 recipes.

Best of all, you can use a smartphone app to choose which meals you’d like. On a diet? Have food allergies? No problem!

“You can select and tailor your recipes to suit your needs by adjusting the time you have, listing your allergens, how many calories you want to consume, the type of food, and even what equipment you’d like to use,” according to Amanda Connolly of The Next Web.

When it first hits the market, expect the robo-chef and bespoke kitchen to cost about $15,000.

Now, that might sound a little pricey. But consider the benefits: Not only would this innovation help people who can’t cook or don’t want to cook (whether it’s through lack of time or knowledge), it would prove invaluable for those with disabilities. Not to mention, everything else you could do with your newfound free time – gardening, spending time with your family, reading a book, helping your child with homework. The list goes on.

Until then, we’ll have to continue making our own meals. But the future of cuisine is coming to your dinner table.

Where innovation meets investing,

Nikia Wade

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By Nikia Wade