Samsung Welstory unveils robots for company cafeterias

South Korean food and beverage company Samsung Welstory Inc. is forming a robotic process automation (RPA) ecosystem in the food service sector.

In an industry first in May, it introduced an exclusive cafeteria corner with robots for cooking and followed with development of robotic arms optimized for food preparation.

Samsung Welstory on Thursday said it signed an agreement with robotics platform company Rainbow Robotics on RPA solutions for the food service sector, with the former to develop arms for cooking robots for catering businesses.

Samsung Welstory provided testbeds to confirm Rainbow Robotics' solutions like evaluation of the practicality of service robots such as those for serving and guidance in addition to models for cooking, as well as support for new tests of the devices. Possessing core component technology for robotic arms, Rainbow Robotics produced the country's first bipedal robot Hubo.

Running robots for cooking at cafeterias also requires cooperation with robotics system integration (SI) companies that design related automation systems to allow hardware such as robotic arms to perform tasks.

Since 2019, Samsung Welstory has cooperated with 14 SI companies possessing know-how in automation system development. Its latest tie-up with Rainbow Robotics, a robotics manufacturer, is considered major progress toward achieving Samsung Welstory's envisioned RPA ecosystem for food service.

Starting with this agreement, Samsung Welstory will roll out cooking robots customized by menu type and process trait at food service establishments. Next year, it will introduce such devices at two more business sites.

Following the release of models for making soup and stew in the first half of this year, those optimized for fried and stir-fried foods and noodle dishes come next.

By year's end, Samsung Welstory will open a flagship venue at its headquarters in the Bundang district of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, to allow visitors to experience cooking robots and RPA solutions developed with the company's partners.

"Based on RPA-based solutions, we will transform the kitchen space into a smart kitchen and build a futuristic operational model that automates the entire process of providing food and beverage services," a Samsung Welstory source said.

Write to Ji-Yoon Yang at yang@hankyung.com