Next-generation robot chefs create a stir

They can already vacuum our floors, wash our windows, scrub our gutters and mow our lawns. But now, household robots can cook your evening meal too.

UK-based Moley Robotics unveiled an autonomous kitchen machine on Tuesday that uses two robot arms and hands to reproduce the movements of a human chef from a 3D-recording of a cooking process that maps every individual motion.

In the space of 25 minutes, the robotic gourmet prepared a bowl of crab bisque from a recipe developed by Tim Anderson, a previous winner of BBC's Masterchef competition. Its mechanical arms, which are mounted above a kitchen surface including a hob and a sink, move up and down as it scrapes butter off a spatula. They even wipe the ladle on the side of the saucepan to prevent drips.

Moley's new device - which was launched at the Hannover Messe, the world's largest industrial fair - is just the latest example of the next generation of household robots, featuring more advanced technologies than the autonomous vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers already in use.

Domestic automation has quickly become a growth market, with about 2.7m household devices sold in 2013, according to the International Federation of Robotics - a 35 per cent increase on 2012. But sales levels are set to rise even faster over the next two years, lifting purchases of so-called personal service robots to nearly 24m for the period 2014 to 2017.

While much of the current growth reflects the popularity of robo-vacuums sold by companies such as Samsung, LG Electronics and the US-listed iRobot, more autonomous kitchens and robotic helpers for the elderly are starting to appear.

Moley was able to develop robotic hands that were almost as dexterous and accurate as an experienced human chef by working with UK-start up Shadow Robot - a company that develops robot hands for the nuclear industry and Nasa.

"The biggest challenge for us . . . is actually working out how to get a really good version of the human motion mapped on to the robot motion," says Rich Walker of Shadow Robot. "The arms and hands are not quite the same geometrically as a human and because you are trying to capture quite subtle movements."

Two universities - Stamford in the US and SSSUP Pisa in Italy - were involved in translating human hand motions into algorithms for the robot. Moley's kitchen also features specially designed utensils for robot use, from spatulas to handheld blenders.

Even so, the robotic chef is not yet fully autonomous. It does not have intelligence or vision incorporated, which would enable it to know where a utensil or ingredient was if it was in the wrong place. Nor can it use a knife - it can only cook using prepared ingredients.

These are features that Moley plans to work on as it develops the kitchen further for its 2017 launch. It intends to manufacture the kitchen in the UK, and is targeting a price of £10,000 once the product is mass produced. It is likely to cost significantly more initially.

Other advances in personal robotics are being applied to help the elderly, injured and paralysed. According to IFR, 708 elderly and handicap assistance devices were sold in 2013, a 345 per cent increase on the number in 2012. It projects sales will exceed 12,000 between 2014 and 2017.

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Relatively few of these products have been approved for real-world use so far, but many are in development or being assessed in clinical trials. Japan's Panasonic, for example, has a robotic bed that transforms into a wheelchair. Last year, Toshiba unveiled its prototype of a human-like robot to serve as a companion for the elderly and people with dementia.

More recently, Imperial College London started work on a €4m project funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme, to develop assisted robotics that can interpret the needs of elderly or paralysed people from their eye movements. It is working with companies in the Netherlands in the technology.

"This will enable a domestic robot to read your thoughts to know what you want to do within a context," explains Aldo Faisal, a senior lecturer in neurotechnology at Imperial.

But while Mr Faisal believes this is a "huge market", he says domestic robotics are likely to be dominated by cleaning robots for the next five years.

In this more established market, Dyson - the UK household brand made famous by its bagless vacuum cleaner - is the latest company to enter the fray. Its product - the 360 eye - will be launched in Japan this year and is likely to sell for about £750.

However, Mike Aldred, who leads the robotics team at Dyson, says there are a number of technological advances, such as understanding and learning, that need to be achieved before robotics can become more prevalent in the home. "Understanding the environment is absolutely critical to enabling future functions," he says. "There's a reason why everyone is focused on vision."

Mr Faisal also believes regulation will have a limiting effect. "What is safe for a robot to do completely autonomously?" he asks. "Who bears the responsibility if something goes wrong?"

Nevertheless, Colin Angle, chief executive at iRobot, which has sold 13m home robots to date, says he sees a future where multiple robots work together throughout the home. "Tying this all together is a robot that would serve as a central point of communication with other robots throughout a 'smart home'," he says.

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