Automated preparation and dispensation of food and beverage products

Abstract

In one embodiment, a system includes: a robotic arm assembly; a plurality of components arranged around the robotic arm assembly and positioned within reach of the robotic arm assembly; and a controller configured to control operation of the robotic arm assembly within the system. Each of the plurality of components is configured to either: store ingredients under predetermined environmental conditions; store food preparation tools; dispense ingredients; blend, cook, or assemble ingredients into a completed food item; provide cleaning functionality to the system and/or components thereof; provide user access to completed food items; or display information relevant to a food item or preparation thereof to users. Methods of using such systems to prepare and dispense food items are also disclosed, and generally include translating recipes into instructions executable by the robotic arm assembly and/or components of the system, communicating such instructions to the robotic arm assembly, and executing such instructions.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to preparation and dispensing of food and beverages, and more particularly, this invention relates to systems and techniques for automating the process of preparing and dispensing food in an efficient and customizable manner via a compact robotic infrastructure.BACKGROUND[0002]At present, preparation and dispensation of food and beverages is a predominantly human-mediated process. Preparing meals, snacks, beverages, etc. is a time-consuming process subject to imprecision due to variations introduced by the human preparer (e.g. measurement inaccuracy, imprecise heating, timing of operations such as heating, marinating, mixing, blending, etc.). Accordingly, it is both time consuming and difficult to precisely replicate the results obtained for a particular preparation activity over time.[0003]In addition, human preparers may not follow appropriate sanitary procedures, and / or may prepare food and beverages using inappropriate te...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]According to one embodiment, a self-contained, fully-automated food preparation and dispensing system includes: a robotic arm assembly; a plurality of components arranged around the robotic arm assembly and positioned within reach of the robotic arm assembly, wherein each of the plurality of components is configured to either: store ingredients under predetermined environmental conditions; store food preparation tools; dispense ingredients; blend, cook, or assemble ingredients into a completed food item; provide cleaning functionality to the system and / or components thereof; provide user access to completed food items; or display information relevant to a food item or preparation thereof to users. The system also includes a controller configured to control operation of the robotic arm assembly within the system.

Problems solved by technology

Accordingly, it is both time consuming and difficult to precisely replicate the results obtained for a particular preparation activity over time.

In addition, human preparers may not follow appropriate sanitary procedures, and / or may prepare food and beverages using inappropriate techniques, ingredients, etc.

For instance, humans may carry out cutting or slicing activities (e.g. with a knife) in a manner that risks harm to themselves or nearby individuals, may use an inappropriate tool for a particular task (e.g. serrated knife where straight edge is appropriate), etc.

Accordingly, human-performed food preparation carries inherent risk of infection, harm, allergic reaction, and other undesirable outcomes due to human error.

Presently there is no easy way to instruct or modify an existing recipe or author a new recipe that can be translated into a prepared meal using an automated system.

This is very likely impeding the creation of recipes and new foods that are tailored to an individual's taste, diet or nutritional goals.

In certain approaches the end dish can be a combination of food items from different creators or chefs, for example a user could order a salad from one chef and soup from another and make a meal, the preparation and dispensing of such combinations is cumbersome today.

A human operator must manually instruct the system to perform certain tasks (e.g. make espresso with volume X oz. at medium strength; dispense product in position “A2”, etc.), and the range of tasks any given system is capable of performing are very limited, with machines typically being designed for a single task (e.g. dispense prepackaged food, heat food), or small number of highly similar tasks (e.g. grind beans to varying degrees of granularity, heat and add a volume of water in a predefined range, filter mixture, dispense liquid, discard solid).

Thus, in order to semi-automate a narrow range of activities required in the preparation of food and beverages, a diverse array of many special purpose machines is necessary, which requires significant space and investment.

Moreover, since a human operator is still involved in the preparation process, the aforementioned problems associated with human preparation of food and beverages are at best mitigated, but cannot be eliminated.

Images