Who Made Those Olympic Food and Beverage Robots?

There's a robot bartender that seems a lot like Makr Shakr's -- but isn't.

The News

• In an effort to stave off Covid (and maximize efficiency), food robots have been installed inside the Olympic “bubbles” to make and serve meals and drinks.

• According to NBC News, there is a coffee making robot, a cocktail robot and a robotic restaurant — plus a variety of other robotic assistants doing various tasks.

• No company names were given to the robots in the reporting we’ve seen, but Orionstar posted a video of its coffee robot making a drink for Olympic athelete Eileen Feng Gu. And while the robot bartender looks a lot like Makr Shakr’s, Makr Shakr confirmed that it’s not theirs (much to that company’s chagrin).

The Story

While I don’t think the use of robots at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing will drive a ton of sales of food and drink robots, it does help highlight what robots do best — work around the clock, making delicious meals and drinks while minimizing human-to-human interaction (important when you’re trying to keep everyone healthy!).

But let’s take a closer look at those robots, shall we? Per NBC, there is a robot barista, a robot bartender and a full-on robotic restaurant. But who are the companies behind them? (There’s actually a mystery afoot!)