Stopped into a coffee shop in Portland last week and saw a robot arm pulling shots

I was just grabbing a quick espresso before heading to a meeting, and there it was. This big mechanical arm behind the counter doing all the tamping and pulling. Barista was just standing there watching it. Said it cost them around $30k and they got it 3 months ago. Tasted fine honestly, but something felt off about not having a person doing it. Made me think about how much we automate things that were already working. Has anyone else run into this at their local spots?

2 comments

2 Comments

cora4001d ago

and thats exactly what bugs me about all this automation stuff. its not that the robot did a bad job or anything, its just... why? coffee was fine before robots. i feel like companies are just throwing tech at problems that didnt exist in the first place. saw a similar thing at a grocery store near me where they replaced two checkout lanes with those self scan thingys and now theres always a line. feels like we are just making life more complicated for no real reason.

andrew9161d ago

honestly cora400 you hit it right on the head. the coffee was fine and now theres a 30k robot just standing there looking cool while the barista stands around doing nothing. i guess im just a grumpy old man at 32 but it makes me wonder what happens when the robot breaks down and nobody remembers how to pull a proper shot anymore. also funny how none of these automation things ever seem to save me time they just shuffle the wait around.