Chipotle has introduced Autocado, a collaborative robot designed to streamline the preparation of avocados by cutting, coring, and peeling them. This innovation was developed in collaboration with Vebu, a startup specializing in food supply automation. Currently, Autocado is being tested at Chipotle's location in Huntington Beach, California. The introduction of this cobot comes as a response to the need to alleviate crew members from tasks considered time-consuming and less preferable.
According to Chipotle, Autocado is capable of processing an avocado in approximately 26 seconds, after which human employees take over to hand-mash the fruit for the chain's renowned guacamole. The cobot is engineered to adjust automatically to the size variability of avocados, ensuring efficiency in the preparation process.
In parallel, Chipotle has also unveiled the Augmented Makeline, a cobotic system developed with Hyphen. This system automates the assembly of bowls and salads, which constitute 65% of Chipotle's digital orders. Meanwhile, employees continue to prepare other menu items such as burritos and tacos manually.
The integration of cobotic technology aims to enhance operational efficiency, as stated by Curt Garner, Chipotle's chief customer and technology officer. The next phase involves optimizing these systems based on crew and customer feedback before expanding their implementation. Chipotle anticipates utilizing around 5.18 million cases of avocados this year across its global network of over 3,500 restaurants.
Source: Cybernews