In May 2023 I visited a coffee shop, where a robotic arm was preparing coffee instead of a human. And I want to give you some information about how it works.
Inside the coffee shop
The coffee shop is very small with an unusual, futuristic architecture inspired by Space Odyssey movie. The ambience is intended to be “sterile” and abstract. When you enter the room, there is a display for ordering on the left and human staff on the right. After you pay your order, the robot (robotic arm respectively) instantly starts to prepare it. It is programmed to make a coffee or hot chocolate and put everything on a plate, including a small biscuit and that honestly made my day. You can observe the whole process, because the arm is placed behind a glass wall.
About the robotic arm
The robotic arm that works here is an IRB 1300 model from the automation company ABB. This company is known to create modern robotic arms that are useful in a huge range of tasks and they are also easy to program. The model IRB 1300 is one of the “item pickers”. These models are AI powered, which give them the “superpower” to learn and adapt in a constantly changing environment. They can also see and decide how to pick and put an item way faster than any human does, which makes the work more efficient. Using these arms, any business can handle more orders without increasing the number of employees. And this is certainly a start of the well-known Industry 4.0 which emphasises automation and implementation of AI-powered robots into the workforce, which is expected to lead to an increased productivity and time efficiency while saving time.
I focused on the movements of the robotic arm, which were impressively precise. I admired how the arm carefully placed the cup of coffee, spoon, glass of water, and biscuit on the plate. The arm completed my order within a minute, and I was pleasantly surprised by how fast and precise it was. The price was affordable – about 2 euros or 1 dollar. Additionally, if you’d like, the display has a camera above it that can take a photo of you with your permission, and the arm can print your portrait on your coffee or hot chocolate.
Outside the ordering room there is a spacious and calm place to stay and enjoy your time with your friends. When I was visiting, this place was really quiet, but I’m not sure whether it is the same on weekends or holidays, when the museum may be busy.
Where is this place?
However, I think it is a place worth visiting. It’s different from classic coffee shops and that might be interesting for someone, especially those who love technology and modern or futuristic design. I have to say that it feels different when a robotic arm prepares your coffee instead of a human. Nor positive or negative, just different. But that’s because it’s not a usual thing (yet) and for me it was the first time in my life when a robotic arm prepared a coffee for me.
As I already mentioned, the coffee shop is located inside the Museum of Applied Arts and the coffee shop is called “Café Robot”. You can find the museum in the central part of Brno, Czechia and the coffee shop on the ground floor right behind the main hall.