Robotic Waiters Don't Take Your Sass or Your Tips

Inching ever closer to a fully robot-staffed restaurant, the Dalu Robot restaurant in China "employs" a robotic waitstaff. And they don't accept tips! While customers must still reach onto the trays and take their own plates, the robots travel around the restaurant on bikes (!), stopping when they perceive magnets embedded in the tables. The restaurant must employ six humans to actually cook the food, but given the recent advances in ham-deboning robots and pancake-making robots, automated chefs are surely not far behind. The restaurant also features "slightly sinister" female mannequin robots that dance to entertain customers. See the video of them in action:

Video: Robot Waiters in Chinese Restaurant

· Robot Waiters in China Never Lose Patience [AP]
· Robot Waiters in Chinese Restaurant [YouTube]
· All Robots Coverage on Eater [-E-]