The newest member of The Templeton of Cary’s food service staff is not required to wear a hairnet and never asks for an extra day off.
“Penny,” a self-driving robot, delivers food and drinks to Templeton residents and brings empty dishes back to the kitchen.
“Penny is the latest in food-service technology and we are excited to have her here at The Templeton,” said Anthony Wright, food and nutrition director for Morrison Living, dining provider for The Templeton of Cary.
Anthony Wright, food and nutrition director for Morrison Living, stands with John Ha, the inventor of Penny, a robot that will assist in the Templeton dining rooms.
“Penny allows our servers to spend more time and quality interaction with the residents, and less time carrying the heavy items to and from the tables,” he said. “And, residents love interacting with Penny.”
The robot has four sensors that help it navigate around the dining venues, avoiding tables and people in its path. Standing 3 feet tall, Penny has a three-tier tray system that allows it to deliver food and drinks, as well as pick up dirty dishes. It is estimated that Penny does 30 to 40 percent of the job of a human server.
Inventor John Ha says future versions of Penny will have additional interactive, social features. A former Google software engineer, Ha opened a Northern California restaurant that ultimately failed. The experience taught him that working in food service was hard work with lots of heavy labor. He was determined to change the way restaurants operated, and this led to the creation of Penny.
Ha’s company, Bear Robotics, aims to transform the hospitality industry by augmenting the human workforce by automating repetitive tasks. This allows for enhanced service with more quality human interaction.
The idea to create a better service experience for customers, or residents in The Templeton’s case, has been well received. Additional robots are planned for The Templeton.
“We have not replaced a single job,” Wright said. “A lot of people thought that these robots were going to replace humans. The biggest merit is when the food is delivered, it gives the server more time to interact with the resident. We now have the time to spend on the most important part of our job – providing amazing food and amazing service.”
