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The
Minhang High School Experimental School, whose students are
11-13 years old, started using the robot in October shortly
after the school first opened, making human cooks redundant.
The roughly 3 metre tall (9.84 feet) robot uses its arm to pick
up pre-prepared individual dishes like steamed egg and fried
chicken wings, which it pops into a large microwave to heat up
before lunchtime.
As students stream into the canteen, the robot places the dishes
on trays that go on to a conveyor belt, which the children then
pick up.
"Everything has gone well as the machine has guaranteed the
safety of the food without having to be touched by humans and
the dishes' taste better now," said the school's vice president
Song Wenjie, adding that the robot tended to be better than
humans at measuring seasonings like salt and pepper.
The school began using the robot after it was donated by Chinese
catering brand Xixiang Intelligent Kitchen, he said. He believes
that they are the first school to use it in Shanghai.
"We received many calls after media reports on this robotic cook
and we are signing many more contracts with schools and
companies in those high-tech parks," said Shen Wei, a project
manager at Xixiang.
The novel coronavirus was first discovered in China late last
year but the country has since brought its spread under control.
The pandemic has boosted demand for service robots in China,
where they are used for tasks like delivering food and drinks in
restaurants, and performing essential functions in hospitals.
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom and Brenda Goh, editing by Ed
Osmond)
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