Humanoid robot a big crowd-puller in Shivamogga hotel

In a first in Karnataka, a humanoid robot serves food and water to the customers at a restaurant in the city. The robot-waiter, a big crowd-puller in Upahara Darshini on Sominakoppa Road at Vinobhanagar, speaks in English and Kannada languages.

Praveen, who operates the robot using his cell phone, told DH about the operations being carried out by the intelligent machine. “It does not receive order from customers. A waiter will receive orders from customers. He would keep glass of water and food ordered by customers on the tray. The robot carries the tray, walking on magnetic track, and stands near the designated table. It asks customers to take food from the tray and returns.”

He said, the robot-waiter would function for two days if charged for two hours. “Such robots are used in hotels in Chennai, where it is directly linked with kitchen. But it was done here. Humanoid robot has been serving food to its customers in the restaurant for past two weeks,” he added. A Made in China humanoid robot was brought to Shivamogga from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

Raghavendra, proprietor of Upahara Darshini told DH, “During a visit to Vijayawada, we saw a robot-waiter at an ice-cream parlour. We decided to introduce it in our hotel and bought it for Rs 5.3 lakh. We are the first hotel in Karnataka to introduce humanoid robot waiter. We are planning to get another humanoid robot in a few months,” he said.

It may be mentioned here that the restaurant has been attracting customers for the past one year because to its ‘any dish at Rs 25’ concept.