Diners at a Coventry restaurant could soon find themselves sharing the floor with a robot as AMMA Kitchen introduces service robotics to support its team and interact with customers.
AMMA Kitchen, on Beake Avenue in Coventry, has partnered with Midlands-based robotics company BodyBot to introduce a service robot into the restaurant.
The robot will help staff by transporting food and other items around the venue, taking on repetitive movement between different parts of the restaurant while also providing an interactive experience for customers.
Rather than replacing restaurant staff, the technology is being introduced as an additional member of the team during busy services.
Claudiu Dinu, founder and director of BodyBot, said: โFor us, this is about showing that robotics can have a practical role in everyday businesses.
โAMMA Kitchen is a great example. The robot isn't there to replace the people who make the restaurant what it is. It is there to support the team, take care of repetitive tasks and create something memorable for customers.
โWe want businesses to be able to adopt this technology without having to become robotics experts themselves.โ
The Coventry partnership offers a glimpse of how technology more commonly associated with exhibitions and futuristic demonstrations could begin appearing in everyday hospitality venues across the Midlands.
At AMMA Kitchen, the robot will not be limited to ordinary restaurant service. It is also expected to appear at some of the venue's private functions and weddings, giving guests the opportunity to interact with the technology.
The project comes as restaurants and hospitality businesses continue exploring ways technology can support staff while changing the experience offered to customers.
For BodyBot, having a robot working inside an active Coventry restaurant will also provide an opportunity to see how the technology performs in a real hospitality environment.
Dinu said: โSeeing the technology operating in a real venue is much more important than simply demonstrating a robot at an exhibition.
โBusinesses can see what it actually does, customers can interact with it and we learn more about how robotics can support hospitality teams in real working environments.โ
BodyBot is a Midlands-based service robotics company working with businesses across hospitality, retail, hotels and events.
The partnership at AMMA Kitchen will now provide Coventry diners with a chance to see what service robotics looks like outside the laboratory or trade-show floor, and in an everyday local restaurant.
