[Oak Robotics] is putting the finishing touches on their programmable cooking robot named OliveR.
It’s not about to make you a souffle (but where did it get the milk?), but it does aim to take the boring parts out of cooking — namely the tedious stirring, adjusting temperatures and the timing of ingredients. While that does make it significantly less impressive than the original title suggests, the team has a blog running of successful recipes — They’ve made some excellent chicken curry, Korean beef, and even Jambalaya!
The team is currently looking for beta testers, and while we’re not too sure what this even entails, you can certainly send them an email and find out! To see a demonstration of OliveR’s cooking skills, hang around after the break.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv86zCZHSp0
OliveR is cool and all, but personally we prefer the Wafflemeister3000 which can cook 5 waffles at a time in 3 minutes flat, for a whopping 90Wfl/h!
There actually is a ‘Cooking-Robot’ on the market since the 1970s – https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermomix
Indeed, that one (also known as ‘bimby’) is a finished product (product line actually) instead of a prototype, and some of its versions can also weigh the ingredients being put in.
Another line of cooking robots in even wider use is the bread-maker: It heats and mixes, controlled by a uC (but not programmable for new recipes etc) and a timer.
But apart from that, if these guys have fun doing these experiments: good on them!
Now just a add a robot to grab out of fridge and one to check if it is off and one to cut/prepare then one to place in pot and we will be living the dream….. or order pizza
This looks interesting but I see a lot of human assistance in its operation. Preset sequences for different meals would help just tell the user when to add what but still a lot or prep work is needed cutting ect.
Yea, you really want to help me out make a robot that can do the chopping.
Chopping robot == “food processor”
Answer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGgeI80H1oI
Question: what happened when you mix a food processor with a pressure cooker and a hot plate?
I’m all for hacking but cooking is so dependent on the person’s tastes that I don’t see how you can automatize this task (it’s like wanting to create a “foreplay robot”… oh wait ! )
Foreplay robot? SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!
I know this is off topic a bit, but, I am surprised no one gave kudos for the Doctor Who reference.
I wonder if Paella would be a possibility with the cooker.
That’s because we shouldn’t let Daleks loose in the kitchen.
It should be at least able to make custard and fish fingers – seperately, of course.
I was about to, but you’ve beaten me to it. :)
Ditto.
Just stirring up another batch of puns, eh?
Watching “Asylum”, It seemed obvious.
She got the milk from the same place she got the other ingredients.
Glad to hear we have some Whovians in the crowd!
Came here to see cooking robot. Found stirring robot. And I am hungry….
This is an advanced stirring machine.
not sure what to say, i love cooking and hacking as much as the next guy and probably more but this thing really is just a stirring machine. next are we going to get this awesome new cooking robot showing us how to boil water which is nothing more than an old school timer.
now if they had bins for each ingredient and had it dump them in at specific times along with chopping veggies, dumping them, PID heat controller and doing it all by itself then it would be worth it IMHO.
Hi all,
Our goal for OliveR is not to replace the chef, but to build a device that works with you. We love the idea of robust and low cost hardware combined with flexible software that actually help you in your day to day life.
It was pretty awesome the first time we dropped raw meat into a pot, watched TV for half an hour, and came back to a finished dish!
You’ve clearly never made a soup before.
[citation needed]!
what does your robot do, sam?
it collects data about the surrounding kitchen environment, then discards it and drives into walls
Thanks but I have i wife…
If you help her out in the kitchen once in a while she wont have to cheat on you! It’s a win/win situation :)
She would cheat on you because you’re not enough of a man. And I doubt being her assistant would improve her perception of your masculinity.
Be sure to also check out everycook. It a more integrated cooking robot which even cuts the vegetables for you!
http://everycook.org/cms/en/hardware-en/features-en
No thanks! I’ll stick with a hot woman that knows how to cook and I wouldn’t have to intervene so much in the cooking process :-)
I’ve looked, there is no off switch.
There is, its called ether.
I’d love to test such a device. Years ago I wrote a white paper about how easy and safe it would be to put MCUs and some automated controls into a gas range — you could prevent release of unspent fuel using a fire detection circuit, you could prevent fire from being left on with a pressure sensor that knows when nothing’s on the cooktop, and you could even program it to do stuff like “bring to medium boil, then simmer 20 minutes” via program.
I think it can be retrofitted onto existing ranges for under about $80, especially if you source the parts carefully. I also think it could be worked into new range designs at no additional marginal cost per unit.
Get in touch with me if you’d like an additional tester.
I once had a drunk roommate who would try to cook late at night but would end up passing out half way through, leaving the oven on or stove on high, “all night long”. So while the fire detection circuit would have saved us all, you could incorporate a breathalyzer option to prevent him from even starting. :)
Hi Dan,
Your website seems to be down – please contact us here: http://oakrobotics.com/learn-more/
I’ve been following these robots since I saw the everycook at 29C3 (http://events.ccc.de/congress/2012/Fahrplan/events/5085.en.html)
There is a commercially available one now that looks promising the Intelli Kitchen Master – BTMKM510W (http://www.belliniappliances.com.au/electrical/item.aspx?item=61)
Time will tell how well these products will work.
I like my sous vide machine. Plop a steak in there and it will be perfectly cooked after 45minutes to three hours to action needed.
?
Haven’t these heating soup blenders been around for a while?
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/cuisinart-soup-maker-blender-sbc-1000/
Hi Gronk,
We get quite a bit hotter than the soup blender – hopefully this lets us make a much wider variety of meals.
I doubt this is good for much more than soup. I recently rebuilt a old KitchenAid orbital mixer and it is a hell of a lot beefier than this; a 325 watt motor and steel gearbox.
Also why is the stirring element on this so small? I’m pretty sure there is a reason why you stir with a large spoon and not a skewer or chopstick.
Depends on what you’re cooking. Some things are properly stirred with chopsticks, like the batter for authentic tempura.
Hi Matt,
We weren’t sure what size stirring element we would need! So far the single stainless rod has surprised us by working fine for everything. The biggest thing we’ve tried is a huge pot of chili – we’ll post that video soon. Follow us on Twitter (@oakrobotics) and we’ll let you know when the video is up.
Love the flaming mysogeny going down in some of these comments. So spicy.
Boring parts of cooking? Say what!?
Those are the most pleasant and relaxing parts of cooking, seeing everything come together. After a long day, nothing beats making a nice dinner.
That’s supposed to be jambalaya? Not the fault of the machine though, I see an Emeril recipe is followed, and he is regularly an embarrassment to real Cajuns.
1) Meat should go in first, to brown and create yummy flavors via the Maillard reaction; which is essential in this dish. Merely boiling the meat is a sin.
2) Then veggies.
3) Then an appropriate amount of stock and rice – usually a 2:1 ratio. Jambalaya should not be soupy. Emeril seems to have his jambalaya and gumbo mixed up.
4) Cover and don’t disturb or stir until it’s done. It’s considered ok if it burns on the bottom, just don’t scrape up and serve that portion.
In my house, I am the Cooking Robot so this certainly sounds like it would be a great to have! I will have to learn more about the beta testing program.
For more info check out our website: oakrobotics.com