RoboBar Tender: a drink mixing automation system

Citation

(1999), "RoboBar Tender: a drink mixing automation system", Industrial Robot, Vol. 26 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.1999.04926eab.009

RoboBar Tender: a drink mixing automation system

RoboBar Tender: a drink mixing automation system

Keywords Food industry, Automation

Factory Automation Systems (FAS), College Park, Georgia, USA has recently developed a drink mixing automation system utilizing a six-axis Motoman-SV3 industrial robot. The robotic bartender, named ISAAC (I Serve Any Alcoholic Concoction) Fillmore: RoboBarTender, automatically mixes a variety of drinks expandable to include hundreds of cocktail selections from a large library of recipes.

System process

Using a Touch Screen interface, the user selects a drink type, the amount of alcohol (single, double, or triple), mixer type, glass size, and quantity of ice option. The robot then removes either a short or a tall glass from one of the glass conveyors (see Figure 2 and Plate 2), dispenses (activates the ice dispenser with the glass) a selectable amount of ice into the glass, and places the glass on a digital weigh scale. The weight of the glass and ice are zeroed out, and the robot moves to pick up the requested bottle of liquor. The bottles of liquor are conveyed into the robot in coded pallets on a liquor carousel conveyor from where the robot picks up the selected bottle and moves it back to the weigh scale. The weigh scale is used to determine the precise amount of liquor to add. The robot pours a programmable amount of liquor into the glass, depending upon the recipe, and then returns the bottle to the liquor carousel. If in the process of pouring a drink the liquor bottle is emptied, the robot senses this condition (through a timer tied together with the weigh scale), and discards the empty bottle onto a chute. The robot then moves back to the liquor carousel to pick up a new bottle, and resumes adding the preset amount of liquor to the drink. The robot then moves the glass from the weigh scale to the mix dispenser, sets it down, and then presses the selected mix button to add to the drink. After the mixer has been added, the robot picks up the assembled drink, shakes it in its gripper, and sets it on the bar at the drink pick-up station for the customer or for delivery by the server.

Figure 2 ISAAC Fillmore: RoboBarTender demonstration system configuration

Plate 2 ISAAC Fillmore: RoboBarTender

Features and benefits

The precision and flexibility of the Motoman-SV3 industrial robot applied to the task of mixing cocktails can be very beneficial and economical. With an accuracy of less than one gram of alcohol (þ3 per cent of an ounce) each time, there is no over-pouring, mistakes, or spillage. The system can be expanded with longer or multiple liquor carousels, multiple mix dispensers for larger quantitites of mixes, and an automatic hand changer for handling odd size bottles. Further, with a mean-time-between-failure of over 50,000 hours the robot can tend bar 24 hours a day for more than 5.5 years. Plans are under way to add voice options and vision for bottle selection verification and the amount of ice.

For further information on RoboBarTender, contact Factory Automation Systems at 1902 College Park, Georgia, USA. Tel: (770) 996-6955.