National Coffee Day, or every day for 64 percent of Americans, is finally upon us. While many will be celebrating the day with a .66 cent cup of Dunkin Donuts brew, it’s also a time to celebrate the technological advances we’ve made in recent years in robotic coffeemaking. Here are all the ways technology has made coffee great again:
Robobarista
While it can’t make a cute heart swirl on the top of your latte, Robobarista can do basically everything else. The robot, designed by researchers at Cornell University, uses a deep learning neural network to consult a database of manuals in order to process how different coffee makers (and juicers and even sinks) work. The database used by the robot also includes 3D model demonstrations by volunteers on how to perform different tasks.
Poursteady
If a robot using an espresso machine isn’t gourmet enough for you, how about a pour over? Poursteady, a robotics startup in Brooklyn, allows for baristas to use an app to control strength, temperature, and drip in order to brew one perfect cup of coffee per minute. While it’s not actually a robot using the machine, the technology still blows previous by-the-cup machines out of the water.
Bubble Labs Robotic Arm
If you want to eliminate your barista altogether, you’re still in luck. This year at the CES Asia convention in Shanghai, Bubble Labs introduced a robotic arm that could both brew your the perfect cup, serve it, and wash up all without snobbily explaining to you the difference between Ankola and Antura blends.
“Making coffee is a very manual and repetitive job, and it is difficult for humans to achieve the same level of consistency when making coffee manually. With a robot, each cup of coffee will be consistent,” said Ken Liu, CEO of the Chinese startup.
Now that’s one hell of a cup of coffee.
