The poster
boy for the movement that opposes a major increase in the minimum wage is a
burger-flipping fraud. A Japanese "robotic chef" that was held up
Thursday as a hassle-free alternative for restaurant owners sick of dealing
with human line cooks would simply not be able to do the job, the machine's
manufacturer told The Huffington Post.
The Motoman
SDA10 robot gained brief notoriety Thursday when it appeared on a full-page ad
in The Wall Street Journal that stated "robots could soon replace fast
food workers demanding a minimum higher wage." Friday, the Japanese electronics giant that
manufactures the robot told HuffPost that the machine was designed for
industrial applications and would not be able to replace a cook in a
restaurant.
"The
robot does not have a real capability for that," Sam Komiyaji, a marketing
manager at Yaskawa Motoman, said in a phone interview from Tokyo.
Komiyaji
explained the picture was taken at a 2009 exhibit that was a marketing stunt
intended to show the industrial robot has a greater degree of flexibility and
dexterity than competitor's offerings. Similar stunts have seen the same robot
deal cards and serve ice cream. During the exhibit, the robot was placed in a
carefully constructed kitchen and was able to dump a bowl of pre-mixed batter
on a hot griddle, flip a savory okonomiya pancake with a spatula, and serve the
meal.
It sounds like they have the tools but need some imagination to come up with a product or service.
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