For Only $30,000 You Can Own This Burger Flipping Robot That Doesn't Give You COVID

Business Insider - Robots can flip burgers and fry sides, and Miso Robotics is selling its burger-flipping robot as the perfect fry cook for the COVID-19 era. Robot assistant Flippy just became commercially available for $30,000. Flippy is attached to a rail under the kitchen hood to move back and forth while manning the grill and fryer.

"After we shared a sneak peek of the prototype in January, we've seen demand through the roof from operators, especially in light of COVID-19" Miso Robotics CEO Mike Bell said. The coronavirus pandemic has hit restaurants hard, but fast-food chains have recovered faster with the drive-thru and takeout business not relying on indoor dining, compared to fast-casual chains.

You know who doesn't skip work to do meth in a Walmart parking lot? You know who doesn't fake slip on water for a fraudulent workers compensation claim? Or who doesn't give a fuck if it's snowed 6 inches and you gotta drive grandma's Nissan Altima to work in the shitshow? Or who asks questions about health insurance premiums? You're goddamn right it's Flippy the Robot. And at the same price point as grandma's car, who in their right minds would argue against this investment? 

And I know you guys are naturally thinking about this from the McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King etc standpoint of the heavy hitters. The big swinging dicks at the cracker factory when it comes to automated fast food production. But for my money I think it's the mom & pop Vienna hot dog stands of the world that benefit the most. Not that I'm calling for a total overhaul in grill labor. I'm just thinking of the places that are open 10am-4am and specialize in a predictable deep fryer accompanying a bevy of meats: dogs, polish, italian B, gyro, burgers, chicken sammies, etc. That's where Flippy has the biggest impact in my brain... legitimately helping businesses in the aftermath of federal COVID legislation. Keeping the window open and the cheese fries rolling.

That said, would you actually want to work alongside a robot in the workplace? I'm not discriminating against robotics. I'm saying workplace relationships are really tough to navigate. There's often an unspoken bond that nobody works too hard so everyone can take it just a little bit easier around the workplace. And it takes a long time to build good culture of mailing it in as a group. You throw a robot into that mix and you're going to have some pushback from the others when Flippy is out there making everyone look like shit. That's why you gotta be smart when installing robots at your company. I've always said that.