Automatic Burger Machine: Coming soon to a McDonalds near you

[lostinblue 1,989]

Automatic Burger Machine: Coming soon to a McDonalds near you

By Draginol on August 14, 2013 3:39:50 PM from JoeUser Forums

As pressure mounts to raise the wages of fast food workers, advocates may want to take note that such wage increases eventually pass a threshold where it makes financial sense to simply invest in automation. As Grocery Store cashiers learned, these jobs are not a given. We are all competing not just with each other but with robots.

One of the primary reasons that the gap between the rich and poor has increased so much in the past 20 years has been the rise in IT. Once we purchase a computer, robot, etc. its capabilities – its output and productivity are owned by the buyer which increases the wealth generated by that person.

As people demand McDonalds pay workers $15 an hour and the government insists that they also provide health care, restaurant owners are increasingly evaluating whether to simply replace their work force with machines.

Naturally, in 2017 when today’s “living wage advocate” is ordering their Big Mac from a friendly touch screen and having it delivered momentarily by a robot they’ll make no connection between how their beliefs resulted in more people living in poverty. Instead, they’ll blame McDonalds. They’ll blame greedy restaurant owners. But they won’t consider that perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea to price people out of their workforce.

Robot Serves Up 360 Hamburgers Per Hour

No longer will they say, “He’s going to end up flipping burgers.” Because now, robots are taking even these ignobly esteemed jobs. Alpha machine from Momentum Machines cooks up a tasty burger with all the fixins. And it does it with such quality and efficiency it’ll produce “gourmet quality burgers at fast food prices.”

With a conveyor belt-type system the burgers are freshly ground, shaped and grilled to the customer’s liking. And only when the burger’s finished cooking does Alpha slice the tomatoes and pickles and place them on the burger as fresh as can be. Finally, the machine wraps the burger up for serving.

And while you fret over how many people you invited to the barbecue, Alpha churns out a painless 360 hamburgers per hour.

San Francisco-based Momentum Machines claim that using Alpha will save a restaurant enough money that it pays for itself in a year, and it enables the restaurant to spend about twice as much on ingredients as they normally would – so they can buy the gourmet stuff. Saving money with Alpha is pretty easy to imagine. You don’t even need cashiers or servers. Customers could just punch in their order, pay, and wait at a dispensing window.

Source: Momentum Machines

For their next model Momentum Machines plans on adding a custom meat grinding feature so it can mix different meats – 1/3 pork, 2/3 bison sounds like a tasty combo – in the same burger. They’ll also give it gourmet cooking abilities that seasoned chefs use such as charring the burger while retaining its juiciness.

The company plans on launching the first ever restaurant chain with a cook staff made entirely of robots. But not only might we soon find Alpha’s creations at local burger joints, but the company is also targeting convenience stores, food trucks, and somehow even vending machines.

You think Americans are obese right now? Just wait.

(Big thanks to Singularity Hub member Tamas Simon for bringing the Alpha machine to our attention!)

http://singularityhub.com/2013/01/22/robot-serves-up-340-hamburgers-per-hour/

[lostinblue 1,989]

More jobs lost for the Americans who cannot get past the 10th grade .Looks like that $15-20 Dollar/HR job Vanished before it got started. Americans need to adapt... My mother was in a Typing pool with 200 other women back in the 40's...... Never going back there ... We still need some people to fix these machine's .

[Merle 458]

That burger looks tasty!

[Hotter Otter 1,211]

Could save a lot of hot air thus helping the environment by replacing tea party advocates with parrots :-)

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The introduction of self check-out lanes at some groceries predate the minimum wage debate. Tolls and parking fees are often no longer collected by people - that trend also far predates the current minimum wage debate. With technology advances, certain jobs lend themselves to automation whether the minimum wage is $8.00 or $10.00 or $12.00. It's nonsense to suggest that the minimum wage ought to be kept low in order to avoid automation and keep those jobs around. The minimum wage decreased from a high of about 10.50 in inflation adjusted dollars in the late 60's to $7.25 today. So the minimum wage has declined more than 30% over the last 50 years. What automation and job elimination has that minimum wage decline stopped exactly? That's right. None.

[Karee 4,191]

The introduction of self check-out lanes at some groceries predate the minimum wage debate. Tolls and parking fees are often no longer collected by people - that trend also far predates the current minimum wage debate. With technology advances, certain jobs lend themselves to automation whether the minimum wage is $8.00 or $10.00 or $12.00. It's nonsense to suggest that the minimum wage ought to be kept low in order to avoid automation and keep those jobs around. The minimum wage decreased from a high of about 10.50 in inflation adjusted dollars in the late 60's to $7.25 today. So the minimum wage has declined more than 30% over the last 50 years. What automation and job elimination has that minimum wage decline stopped exactly? That's right. None.

They had those self check-out lanes at the Albertson's near me. They ended up yanking them all out. They had to have staff constantly overriding them because of the so called "theft-prevention" features on them. It tried to measure the weight of your bags after you scan an item and put it in the bag. If the bag was light by it's calculations, then it stopped the check-out process until an employee came over and over-rode the system. This would happen at least once every time I went there. Personally I'm glad the things are gone because they didn't work, not because it gave a human a job.

There will always be jobs that require little or no skill, although I think they are going to become more rare thanks to automation. One of two things will happen if they raise the minimum wage. Maybe both.

1. Prices will go up. They'll have to pass on the higher costs to the customer.

2. Employers will try to do more with less workers. So while on the surface it might seem great to the guy making a better hourly wage, it probably wont seem so great to the former employee standing out in front of McDonald's with a cup, asking if you can spare some change

[Teddy B 17,252]

They had those self check-out lanes at the Albertson's near me. They ended up yanking them all out. They had to have staff constantly overriding them because of the so called "theft-prevention" features on them. It tried to measure the weight of your bags after you scan an item and put it in the bag. If the bag was light by it's calculations, then it stopped the check-out process until an employee came over and over-rode the system. This would happen at least once every time I went there. Personally I'm glad the things are gone because they didn't work, not because it gave a human a job.

There will always be jobs that require little or no skill, although I think they are going to become more rare thanks to automation. One of two things will happen if they raise the minimum wage. Maybe both.

1. Prices will go up. They'll have to pass on the higher costs to the customer.

2. Employers will try to do more with less workers. So while on the surface it might seem great to the guy making a better hourly wage, it probably wont seem so great to the former employee standing out in front of McDonald's with a cup, asking if you can spare some change

Pretty much every store I go into people avoid those self checkout lanes like the plague. the only time they get used is if the regular checkout lanes are backed up. I've used them on occasion with mixed results, for just a few items they're good, but for a full carriage I'll wait in line.

[GandD 5,966]

When I first glanced at this, I thought it said "Atomic Burger Machine"

My interest was peeked.

[decocker 7,198]

Could save a lot of hot air thus helping the environment by replacing tea party advocates with parrots :-)

lol.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

They had those self check-out lanes at the Albertson's near me. They ended up yanking them all out. They had to have staff constantly overriding them because of the so called "theft-prevention" features on them. It tried to measure the weight of your bags after you scan an item and put it in the bag. If the bag was light by it's calculations, then it stopped the check-out process until an employee came over and over-rode the system. This would happen at least once every time I went there. Personally I'm glad the things are gone because they didn't work, not because it gave a human a job.

1. Prices will go up. They'll have to pass on the higher costs to the customer.

2. Employers will try to do more with less workers. So while on the surface it might seem great to the guy making a better hourly wage, it probably wont seem so great to the former employee standing out in front of McDonald's with a cup, asking if you can spare some change

They have them at Lowe's for years now. Home Depot, too. I use them frequently and find that they work well. The technology will continue to be perfected and these devices - or something more advanced and better - will come in force over the next several years. And that will happen whether the minimum wages rises or continues to fall. The minimum wage has not all that much to do with the continued elimination of repetitive, low skill jobs. Again, these jobs have been eliminated even as the minimum wage continued to fall over the last five decades. And prices have gone up and will continue to go up whether the minimum wage rises or not. Let's not pretend otherwise.

[mota bhai 2,675]

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

Pretty much every store I go into people avoid those self checkout lanes like the plague. the only time they get used is if the regular checkout lanes are backed up. I've used them on occasion with mixed results, for just a few items they're good, but for a full carriage I'll wait in line.

I love em. Use them 98% of the time. They have issues but you learn to work with them.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

I love em. Use them 98% of the time. They have issues but you learn to work with them.

You talking about women?

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

You talking about women?

It's amazing how us black guys think alike, eh?

[Karee 4,191]

I love em. Use therking m 98% of the time. They have issues but you learn to work with them.

Just think of all the check out people you are putting out of work next time you scan your own groceries. Why do you hate the poor working man?