KT, South Korea’s largest telecommunications company, has introduced a smart robot food server, powered by its Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other latest technologies, at a Seoul franchise of Mad for Garlic, a major nationwide restaurant chain.
The AI robot server, is equipped with state-of-the-art software that features 3D spatial mapping and self-driving. The programming, developed by KT’s Institute of Convergence Technology, enables the smart robot to maneuver between and around tables and chairs to serve customers ordering food at the restaurant.
KT and MFG Korea, the parent of the Italian bistro chain, expect food-serving robots will be a welcome way to reduce person-to-person contact amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The robots also would help give restaurant employees more time to tend to specific customer needs, boosting their efficiency and productivity.
The AI robot server is 1.25 meters tall, 50 centimeters wide and battery powered. The design emphasizes stability as the robot moves at up to 1.5 meters per second carrying four fully loaded trays and little vibration when stopping to prevent spills.
MFG Korea is expected to develop various customer scenarios during the pilot service and study the possibility of nationwide deployment of the next AI-equipped restaurant robot that KT is developing.
Kim Chae-Hee, head of KT’s AI/Big Data business division
KT is bringing AI closer to the lives of our customers with the release of its first hotel robots last year, second-generation hotel robots this year, and now a new AI serving robot developed for the food and beverage business area.
