Ch 11 Automation & Self Service

3D printing

1) Rapid prototyping processes use systems that are low cost, small in size, fast, easy to use, and often suitable for an office environment. 2) Collective term for all rapid prototyping activities. first stereolithography apparatus (SLA), which gave birth to 3D printing, was patented by Mr. Charles Hull in 1986. The main difference between a 3D printer and a regular printer that creates flat two-dimensional images of text or photographs is the added dimension. A 3D printer can print 3D objects that have volume, shape, and color, just like other objects that are created by nature (e.g., stones or teeth), or manufactured (e.g., smartphone cases or a coffee mugs).

Self-Parking Slipper:

First introduced in the all-new Nissan LEAF in Japan in October 2017, ProPILOT Park detects surrounding objects and lets drivers automatically park the vehicle in a selected parking space by pressing a button. The same technology is being used in the amenities at the ProPILOT Park Ryokan during a demonstration to entertain guests and reduce staff workload.

robots in different industries

Space exploration robots allow humankind to expand knowledge about other planets and astronomical bodies, learning about their landscape, geology, and For example, robot rovers have been sent to explore the Moon and Mars. Underwater exploration employs autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) that may assist people in studying the marine life and underwater landscape. The exploration of the shoreline and possible underwater wrecks provides the necessary information for building navigation maps for ships. AUVs may be controlled remotely, or act independently guided by a mission goal. Recent developments from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) tested a robot that had "cognitive" functions and was able to plan its mission based on the higher-level goal provided to it. Such progress may allow scientists and engineers to use their time for strategic planning and let the robot perform lower-level tasks independently. Electric mobility is another area that has gained increased attention recently. Many automotive companies and several universities are working on a self-driving (or driverless) car. Google also created a project called Waymo, which stands for a new way forward in mobility. Self-driving cars are equipped with sensors that allow them to scan their surroundings and identify other traffic participants (e.g., other cars, bicycles, buses, motorcycles, pedestrians, traffic lights, etc.). A built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) allows a car to navigate from point A to point B. A combination of the sensors, GPS route, and system intelligence is in place to predict the movement of all traffic participants and move the self-driving car safely to its destination. Currently, self-driving cars are being tested before making them available to the public. Manufacturing employs both industrial and service robots for different purposes, such as working on the assembly line, welding, painting, and coating. Also, robots may be of help with packaging, warehousing, and handling and delivering materials at the factories. Search and rescue may be significantly advanced when employing robots for tasks that are not possible for humans. For example, robots can walk into a building on fire to help rescue trapped people. Research and development in this area are progressing quickly. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) conducts Robotic Challenge that attracts teams from around the world to showcase their achievement in using robots for disaster response. During the Challenge, robots compete with each other by performing a series of tasks typical for rescue and aid situations, such as driving a vehicle, climbing up the stairs, opening a door by turning a door handle, and others. These tasks that have been mastered by humans may be quite challenging for robots to perform, however, robots can survive and function in dangerous environments and, therefore, save people's lives. Medical robots are used for different purposes, such as carrying samples within a hospital, performing surgeries, and assisting with customer recovery (therapeutic robots). For example, da Vinci is a surgical system that consists of a control panel and robotic arms performing the surgery. The control panel provides a 3D high-definition video of the surgery and movement control for the robotic arms. Robotic arms have a multitude of tools and perform surgery by following the remote commands of the surgeon. This robot-assisted operating system allows for minimally invasive surgeries with high precision and control. Agricultural robots are frequently used in planting seeds, spraying pesticides, harvesting (e.g., berry picking), or livestock applications (e.g., milking cows). Military robots may be used for defense, attack, and search and rescue operations. Household robots are the ones used for household chores. These robots may help with vacuum cleaning, mopping floors, mowing a lawn, ironing clothes, and other domestic routines. Also, some robots are designed to become intelligent assistants for humans. For example, Amazon has developed Echo and Dot, intelligent speaker devices enabled by Alexa voice service. These devices respond to the name "Alexa," and answer user questions by finding useful information on the Internet. For example, Alexa may find information about a local weather forecast or movie times for a night out. If the house is equipped with other smart devices, such as power outlets, Alexa may also control the lights in the house. For example, a voice command "Alexa, turn off the lights" may allow users to turn the lights off without going to the light switch.

Rollercoaster restaurant layout

The elevation is needed for the delivery carts to gain a certain speed and be able to use the power of gravity to make their way to the dining tables. Therefore, rollercoaster restaurants require a ceiling height of at least 21 feet (6.5 m). The higher the ceiling, the more impressive the rollercoaster design may be. The dining area of a rollercoaster restaurant should be estimated at about 300-360 square yards (250-300 m2), and the kitchen and storage area requires an additional 240 square yards (200 m2)."

Automation

The use of technology to ease human labor or to extend the mental or physical capabilities of humans. that uses Artificial intelligence is one such new technology. In fact, innovations like machine learning, AI, autonomous agents, and virtual reality are deeply changing the workforce and rapidly transforming jobs once considered impervious to change

self-service kiosk

a freestanding terminal that usually has a touch screen for user interaction situated in the hotel lobby and allow guests to access their room key using their reservation number or name. Such kiosks help hotels to eliminate lines and reduce waiting time, therefore, positively impacting customer experience. For example, YOTEL is a hotel brand where about 95% of all check-ins happens on a self-service kiosk. These hotels allow customers to avoid human interactions, if they choose so, however, still keep a hotel associate on staff to provide assistance when needed.

Magnetic Conveyor

creates an impression of pure magic with plates gliding on the table surface without any visible conveyor mechanism. For this conveyor type, a series of magnets are installed under the table surface. The mechanism is programmed to create magnetic field changes that ensure the smooth movement of plates over the surface. This conveyor mechanism is invisible and does not show any movement until a plate is placed on the table. Once a plate touches the table, it starts gliding on the tabletop guided by the fluctuations in the magnetic field.

rollercoaster restaurant

delivered in special carts that glide down the rollercoaster tracks to dining tables. The carts fly through turns and loops on the rollercoaster tracks driven only by gravity. Through such an unusual and fun food delivery method, rollercoaster restaurants aim to provide an entertaining and memorable experience for their guests.

Mechanical Conveyor

is a traditional type of a conveyor that utilizes a sequence of pulleys to push a belt forward. Mechanical conveyor belts designed for restaurants are often made of crescent-like parts, which ensure belt flexibility and low radius in the turning points. A conveyor line usually consists of modular elements, such as straight parts, and bend elements that allow the line to curve or make a U-turn. The straight sections of a conveyor may be arranged via a single lane or double lane (or "twin"). The mechanical conveyor is the most common application in the restaurant.

Quality control

the processes an organization uses to maintain its established quality standards The first step in keeping the food items fresh is using transparent lids that protect food from being exposed to the environment, but still keep the contents of the plate visible to the customers. Such lids protect food items from any potential contamination, however, even then, sushi placed on a conveyor will expire after several hours. RFID tags embedded in the plates and RFID readers installed on the underside of the conveyor belt to track the freshness of each plate. This system allows restaurant managers to set a specific expiration time for each menu item that may range between 1 minute and several hours. A fully automated system has a rejection mechanism installed on the conveyors that pushes the plates off of the conveyor once the RFID reader determines that the item has 111 expired. A semiautomated rejection mechanism also uses the RFID tags and readers to determine the expiration time of each item, but instead of rejecting the item from the conveyor belt, it gives a sound or light signal to the restaurant employees who need to remove the plate manually.

Additive Manufacturing

the production of physical items by adding layer upon layer, much in the same way an inkjet printer lays down ink The 3D printing process builds a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design (CAD) model, usually by successively adding material layer by layer,

table side tablets

used in restaurant ordering such as Ziosk or Presto, offer capabilities for viewing a menu, placing an order, playing games during the dining, paying a bill, and providing feedback (e.g., customer surveys). This technology receives a customer order and sends it directly to the kitchen, minimizing the wait time and enhancing the customer dining experience. At the same time, a more efficient and speedy service may allow restaurants to increase the table turn and, therefore, welcome more customers.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)

A 3D printing process that extrudes heated thermoplastic material through a computer-controlled print-head nozzle to build parts up layers.

Robot

A machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically an "actuated mechanism programmable in two or more axes with a degree of autonomy, moving within its environment, to perform intended tasks". In this definition, autonomy describes the ability of a robot to perform tasks independently, without human assistance, and based on the robot's sensing of the environment.

industrial robot

An automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator programmable in three or more axes. The field of industrial robots may be more practically defined as the study, design and use of robot systems for manufacturing. are used in manufacturing, for example, on the production line. Robots are increasingly used in manufacturing since the 1960s. In the auto industry, they can amount for more than half of the "labor". There are even "lights off" factories such as IBM keyboard manufacturing factory in Texas that was fully automated as early as 2003. The adoption of industrial robots by different industries continues to grow.

Conveyor Express Line

Any conveyor restaurant can also adopt conveyor express lines on top of the conveyor systems. An express line is usually installed in addition to one of the conveyor mechanisms described above (most frequently, mechanical). A conveyor express line at a conveyor restaurant is something like an express lane on a highway. It allows for a speedy delivery of food items to the ordering table. Usually, this special line is used to deliver items that are custom made and not available on the regular conveyor line. This line uses express delivery cars, which are controlled via a tablet that allows kitchen staff to program the cars with a table number for delivery. Once delivery is complete, the cars return back to the docking station and await their next assignment. The most popular and modern type of express line is the autonomous module for the delivery of dishes. Control is compatible with the Android mobile operating system. It allows the user to control the operation from a tablet or phone. This kind of conveyor can remove all waiters.

Ordering and Billing

Colored plates are used to signal different price levels to the consumers. A restaurant would display prices for each color, such as red, yellow, and purple plates, instead of each dish individually. RFID chip built into each plate would contain information about the price of an item placed on that plate. In this case, preparing a check is as easy as just scanning all empty plates that a customer has on their table.

conveyor system

Common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another the belt and a sequence of pulleys that move the belt forward, assisting humans in moving bulky and heavy objects. The conveyor belt was popularized by Mr. Henry Ford after introducing this technology at the Ford Motor Company in 1913.

Advantages of 3D printing

Easy and quick to change part design and produce a new version. Limited skills or training needed to make parts Cost of producing one part, or a few unique parts, is relatively low. Some parts can be made already assembled.

Robot Delivery

Food delivery robots have already started to deliver customer food orders in Northern California. Small service robots now show up to restaurants, get loaded with food, and then travel to hungry patrons.DoorDash has begun using food delivery robots to drop off food orders. DoorDash's robot can carry 22 lbs. of food. While it makes a delivery, the robot's compartment is locked so that no one can steal the food or tamper with it. When the service robot arrives at the destination, DoorDash sends a text message with a link. The recipient clicks the link to unlock the food delivery robot. Another approach to integrating robots into the food delivery process is to use flying robots (drones) to deliver plates to the dining tables. Infinium Robotics has developed Infinium Serve, an autonomous drone system designed specifically for restaurants." This robotic system intends to improve the operational flow of the restaurant: when plates are delivered by drones, restaurant staff will have more time for other tasks, such as interacting with customers and attending to their needs. Drones use their sensors to find their way to the right table and avoid obstacles and collisions. They are also equipped with weight balancing capabilities to ensure secure deliveries.

ordering and billing in rollercoaster restaurant

Food ordering and delivery. Customers are greeted and seated by a hostess at a rollercoaster restaurant, however, the entire dining experience after that Point is automated. Every table is equipped with a large touch screen that customers use to browse the menu, place an order, and pay their bill. The order is forwarded to the kitchen, where it appears on the kitchen printer. The kitchen staff cooks the meals and packs them into the delivery carts. Each cart looks like a cooking pot that has a secure lid and track holders to hold on to the rollercoaster tracks. Once a meal is loaded into the cart, the kitchen staff closes the lid, attaches a sticker with the order content and table number on it, places the cart on the roller coaster tracks, and sends it to the distribution station located at a higher level. At the distribution station, all orders are screened for accuracy and routed to the appropriate tracks to be delivered to the customers.

Robot Server

In addition to food production, robots have also been employed as servers. For example, robots may be used to take orders, deliver food, or complete a payment transaction. Pizza Hut has employed robot Pepper and partnered with MasterCard to create a mobile app for taking orders and accepting payments." Customers should pair their cards to begin the service process. Pepper is a humanoid robot that greets customers at the café and uses voice recognition technology to place their orders. Pepper may also answer questions about items on the menu. Demon Chatbot "Foodie" has been developed to support the customers to make a food order. It can help customers in choosing and ordering their favorite dishes from the menu, delivery, and pick up the order and it also helps in reserving the table at the restaurant. There is huge potential here for restaurants and food providers to be available through certain Chatbots and for it to boom.

Housekeeping robot:

In addition to serving hotel guests and assisting with their requests, robots may also help with housekeeping duties. For example, robots may complete vacuum cleaning, while a housekeeper is busy cleaning a bathroom and changing sheets, or assist in cleaning public areas. Additionally, with the release of a laundry-folding robot, hotels may soon automate their efforts in the laundry department. Maidbot, a robotics company that created Rosie, the first housekeeping robot and indoor mobile data platform for hotels.

Conveyor Restaurants

Japanese entrepreneur Yoshiaki Shiraishi opened his first conveyor sushi restaurant in Osaka, Japan. Conveyor belt sushi was invented because Yoshiaki Shiraishi had problems staffing his small sushi restaurant and had difficulties managing the restaurant by himself. allow restaurants to automate the food service process. Such automation helps restaurants to reduce labor expenses by hiring less wait staff, whose job of taking and delivering orders is performed by a conveyor. Also, restaurants are able to reduce customer wait times, since guests can select food items available on the conveyor as soon as they are seated at the restaurant.

robots Room service/delivery:

Relay is a delivery robot that was developed by Savioke as a 3-foot (90 cm) tall robot designed to politely carry extra towels, breakfast and even a bottle of champagne to customers' rooms. Relay debuted in the hotel industry as an A.L.O. Botlr (robotic butler) at Aloft hotels in 2014, and since then has spread to Hilton, Marriott, InterContinental, and Westin brands. Botlr tirelessly works around the clock running small deliveries at hotels, bringing hotel guests a toothbrush, bottled water, or a towel. Early adoptions of Both showed that this robot is well liked by hotel guests, especially by children. Botlr saves time for hotel employees by reliably running timely deliveries, but allowing front desk agents to stay at their desks. When a guest places a request, a hotel employee deposits the right item into Botlr's bin and sends it off for delivery. Botlr keeps a map of the hotel property in its memory and uses wireless Internet connection to call the elevator. Once in front of the door, the robot wirelessly calls the in-room phone and informs the guest that their delivery has arrived. Botlr releases the contents of the bin when the room door opens. After the guest retrieves the delivered item, Botlr pops a question on its touch screen display asking to evaluate its job and perform a little robotic dance when a perfect score is received. If the guest is not satisfied with the delivery, Both will initiate a phone call between the hotel guest and a front desk agent, so that a human employee could understand the causes of the problem and offer a solution. Then, Botlr returns to the front desk, where it plugs itself to the charging station while expecting the next delivery.

Robot Cook

Right now, there are lots of robot cook applications used in restaurants, such as Sushi robots, Grill robots, and Burger robots. They are already in food preparing processes to provide delicious food to the people. Sushi machines can produce a variety of dishes, such as sushi, rolls, and nigiri. These machines usually require human interaction for placing precooked rice in the machine, or adding staffing to the rolls. However, these robots help with automating the sushi-making process by significantly increasing the production speed, and ensuring consistency in the final output. Such robots may be purchased from companies like Sushirobo and Sushi Robots. Noodle cutting robots were introduced in China. With robotic precision and speed, these robots can cut noodles faster and better than humans. The robots can also perform the cleaning process by themselves. A BratWurst (sausage grilling) bot was introduced in Germany to serve one of the traditional meals. This autonomous robot is essentially a robotic arm attached to a grill. The robot accepts orders through a touch-screen tablet and places all of them in a queue showing customers the remaining wait time. Momentum Machines are working on an autonomous burger robot that would produce high-quality customizable burgers with a speed of about 400 burgers per hour.43 This robot is expected to independently create an entire burger from scratch from fresh ingredients. The machine will have a modular structure and include such sections as a stamper to press ground beef into burger patties, slicer to cut fresh ingredients, oven to cook burgers, and a bagger to wrap the final product. In addition to cooking different types of food, robots may also mix drinks. A robot bar system was developed by Makr Shakr, and is available for the food and beverage industry as either a fixed or a mobile unit. The system works with a mobile app that allows customers to choose from a variety of drinks, or to create their own. Once the order is placed, a robotic arm mixes a drink taking the ice, alcoholic and soft beverages, pours it into a glass, and delivers to the customer. The robotic bar system may have about 130 bottles mounted to its ceiling, thus, providing a variety of drink choices for the customers. The automated system also allows for precise inventory control and liquor dispensing. The robotic bar system was first installed on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Quantum of the Seas in November 2014, followed by Anthem of the Seas (April 2015), Ovation of the Seas (April 2016), and Harmony of the Seas (May 2016).

Chatbot concierge:

Robotic concierges have been employed in several hotels, including the Japanese Henn-Na, the Belgian Ghent Marriott Hotel, and the Hilton McLean located in the United States. These robots are usually about 2 feet (under 60 cm) tall. They are located in the lobby area to answer guest questions about the hotel properties and help them better plan their stays. Hilton Worldwide developed its concierge robot, Connie, in partnership with IBM. Connie is named after the founder of Hilton, Conrad Hilton. Connie is enabled by IBM's Watson, a cognitive computing platform that has language processing and learning capabilities. Every question asked by the guests teaches Connie communication skills and how to provide better answers and recommendations to customers. Therefore, Connie's every interaction with hotel guests is a one more steptoward better service in the future.

Robots in Hotels

The world's first fully automated hotel staffed by robots opened on July 17, 2015, in Sasebo, Japan. The name of the hotel is Henn-Na. About 90 percent of all employees in this hotel are robots. By hiring robots, the owner aims to create a hotel property "ultimate inefficiency". The hotel employs different types of robots that service the entire hotel guest experience. The hotel experience starts at the front desk where guests are checked in by robotic front desk clerks. The reception area features a humanlike (humanoid) robot and a dinosaur robot. Robots can interact with hotel guests in different languages and provide instructions on how to complete the check-in process. The hotel uses face recognition technology to provide access to hotel rooms. For those guests who need to check-in luggage at the hotel, there is a storage locker room operated by a robotic arm. The robot accepts the luggage from a guest and places it into one of the available storage compartments mounted into the wall. And those guests who go to the room may be assisted by a robotic porter that helps them. When in the room, hotel guests interact with a voice-activated in-room robot assistant, Churi-chan. This robot sits on a nightstand in the room and controls lights, wake-up calls, and can also answer simple questions, such as provide a weather forecast. When guests have any inquiries about the hotel services and amenities, they may consult a robot concierge. Henn-Na hotel is a special hotel using mostly robot staff. In many hotels around the world, the use of robots is becoming more and more prevalent, aimed at improving guests' experience. There are a series of different uses of robots in the hotel industry. Luggage storage: Yotel, a hotel in New York, now has a robot called the Yobot designed to help visitors with their luggage storage during the spare time before and after checkout. Guests carry their own bags up to their rooms. The Yobot can lift up to 500 pounds and handles roughly 300 bags per day.

Professional service robots

are frequently used in logistics systems, defense applications, farming, and medical fields. While industrial robots automate manufacturing tasks, professional service robots, which vary greatly in form and function, automate menial, dangerous, time-consuming, or repetitive tasks, effectively freeing human workers to perform more cognitive functions. semi-autonomous or fully autonomous robots with some form of mobility. There are service robots that are intended to interact with people, typically deployed in a retail, hospitality, healthcare, warehouse or fulfillment settings.

Service robots

assist human beings, typically by performing a job that is dirty, dull, distant, dangerous or repetitive. operates semi-or fully autonomously to perform services useful to the well-being of humans and equipment, they exclude manufacturing operations, and they are capable of making decisions and acting autonomously in a real and unpredictable environment to accomplish determined tasks. Service robots may be employed professionally or for personal use. From 2014 to 2015, service robot sales increased by 25 percent for professionally used robots and 16 percent for personal use robots.

Conveyor Systems at Airport

check-in process and routing them to the sorting area from where the bags are uploaded to the airplanes. Bags may travel for miles within the airport before they are uploaded on the planes. For example, the cumulative length of a series of conveyor belts at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is 9.3 miles. Dubai International Airport offers one of the longest conveyor belt systems in the world that runs for more than 55 miles. The starting speed of a luggage conveyor belt is 90 feet per minute. However, such conveyors may travel as fast as 350 feet per minute depending on the manufacturer. Upon arrival to the destination, the bags are distributed to travelers through the conveyor systems again—luggage carousels in the baggage claim areas.

personal service robots

designed for household jobs, education, entertainment, and for assistance to the elderly or physically and mentally challenged population automate the repetitive or menial part of a home or work life making them more productive. Personal service robots are operating in a quasi-structured environment created by individuals for their own purposes. It means that the surrounding is not exactly adjusted to the needs of the performed job (e.g., regular home, waiting hall, office, restaurant). Service robots for personal use are frequently purchased for handicap assistance, cleaning, and entertainment purposes. The sales of both professional and personal service robots are forecasted to rise in 2016-2019. Those sectors that are currently using service robots are expected to continue the trend. In addition to those industries, the public relations sector was named among the ones that will be experiencing strong growth. The growing use of robots is forecasted in service areas, such as stores, events, museums, galleries, and exhibitions, for customer assistance, information, and excursions.

robotic kitchen

has been created by Moley Robotics. Moley presents a kitchen module that includes everything that a full kitchen usually has (e.g., stovetop, sink, utensils, plates) plus a pair of robotic arms. This robot has access to a database of recipes by chefs from all around the world, and can prepare any dish from the database by mimicking the movements of the chef cooking the dish. The Moley system requires human input only at the recipe selection stage. Once the choice is made, the robot can complete the entire cooking process by itself, starting from locating the ingredients to slicing them, cooking, plating the dish, and cleaning the kitchen.

Disadvantages of 3D printing

is texture, It might happen to have the right ingredients in proximity to each other in a food 3D print, but if the texture of the food is not "right" in the mouth, it is a failure. counterfeiting. Anybody with the blueprint of a product can quickly forge the products. Violations of patents will be on the increase and as well the identification of items that are counterfeited will not be possible.

characteristic of robots

sensing- robot aware of its surroundings and give it an ability to interact with those surroundings to complete a job. This is essential for robots to perform their tasks, and act upon any changes in the environment to calculate the appropriate response. movement- Stationary robots usually stay at the same place to perform their tasks, however, some parts of such robots would be mobile, for example, a robotic arm. According to the terms used to describe them, wheeled robots have wheels, legged robots have legs, and swimming robots can swim. In addition, mobile spherical robots look like a ball and may roll in their environment. Such robots are usually used in space exploration and surveillance. Also, some robots are flying instead of moving on the ground (e.g., autonomous drones). power- dedicated to providing and supporting economical motor and motion control solutions for a wide variety of applications. A robot may be electrically powered through a power outlet, battery-powered, or solar-powered. The power source is usually determined by the type of actions a robot needs to perform, and required mobility. intelligence- artificial intelligence (AI), which refers to the robot's ability to mimic human cognitive processes, such as learning, language processing, reasoning, and so on. AI is arguably the most exciting field in robotics. AI would be a recreation of the human thought process -- a man-made machine with our intellectual abilities.

self-service technologies

technological interfaces that allow customers to provide themselves with products and/or services without the intervention of a service employee an easy way for a business to automate some of its processes by asking a customer to perform a certain function by themselves. Smart devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and kiosks, are being used extensively for such purpose.

Water Conveyor

uses a trough filled with water instead of a conveyor belt and pulleys. A water pump creates the water flow that pushes the boats carrying food plates forward. These boats may be wooden, plastic, or metal, depending on the design needs of a restaurant. They differ in dimensions and size/existence of a sail. Overall, such a conveyor looks like a river or a channel full of boats bringing yummy treats to the restaurant guests. In order to enhance the design of a water conveyor, restaurants may apply a blue dye to the water to achieve an attractive ocean-like color, or place freshwater fish in the water to entertain the customers. All materials of water conveyors have been approved for direct contact with food and are resistant to non-aggressive detergents. Water Conveyors are very effective in delivering food and drinks to customers. Also, its design attracts more customers' attention. Besides, water conveyors can decrease energy consumption.