Flippy the Burger Flipping Robot at CaliBurger Pasadena

Tech Reporter Rich DeMuro tries a hamburger cooked by a robot named Flippy from Miso Robotics. The robot is now working the grill at a Caliburger fast food restaurant in Pasadena, California.
Tony Lomelino, CTO at CaliBurger narrates the process of Flippy making burgers.
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[@Maxumized]

Flippy looks like the quiet type. I bet he’s a real talker on his breaks

[@waves0905]

Maxumized i don't know why i think what you said was cute but Cute

[@leerman22]

And he'll work for less than a $15 minimum wage!

[@garypranzo9334]

@@leerman22 And contribute zero to the economy since he will not go out and spend his pay or pay taxes. The CEO's will pocket that shit. Plus he is slow

[@sugandhatomar7118]

ok, shit like this is what will lead to skynet uprising......dont give flippy a knife attachment ⁀⊙﹏☉⁀

[@logarithmmm]

So... he's _always_ the quiet type? Robots don't need "breaks". Maintenance, sure, but the time it takes to R&R one robot is probably waaaay less than the total accumulated time of one employee's breaks.

[@bat__bat]

The robot did literally 7% of the work. When it can do 95% I'll be impressed.

[@thomass2125]

Flippy is the cheap version of Moley Robotic Kitchen: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3ymh6KiZ86KmcU

[@maximumcockage6503]

Texas just revealed it's first fully automated McDonalds. You impressed yet?

[@MrJupit3r3642]

How do you know it did 7% of the work?

[@harmoneyreilly4225]

@@maximumcockage6503 and what about all the people and they jobs

[@maximumcockage6503]

@@harmoneyreilly4225 What about them, slave?

[@JeffBourke]

He can't salt the burger, he can't unpack the burgers, he can't add the cheese. He can't unload the burgers onto a tray properly. Flippy has a lot to learn.

[@inkbold8511]

Jeff Bourke it can do any of these stuff just with added equipment like those two spatula.

[@howardlam6181]

Nothing an engineering team can't solve. Stop complaining and start helping the development.

[@katlicks]

His name is flippy. Salty and Cheesy are coming soon.

[@gregson8533]

Why are people like you so ignorant, Don't you see that this is just the first step? Once we have a robot that can fluidly flip burgers then you implement other features etc. salting, adding condiments etc.

[@DH-iu7ey]

Notice how they cut the video after each flip. Probably takes Flippy 10 mins to reload a flip

[@lukemartin7029]

2:04 bro you missed the tray

[@p0ma147]

2:25 "No complaints" :)

[@gregmalden9809]

2:09 as well

[@egold33311]

Yeah, what a promo video!

[@ExCommie]

They placed the tray in the wrong spot. It is programmed to put it into a specific place.

[@supermanprime1281]

@Golden Griffon fr that's why I left after I seen the bs and crap done to food

[@arturoborda1996]

Everything is fine till flippy start complaining for the extende hours of nonstop work.

[@MTXSHO9732vV8SHO]

Right....... Like your Playstation does🇺🇸🤣🤣🤣🇺🇸

[@My2CentsYall]

NO when flippy breaks down!

[@Mobile_Gamer707]

2:08 flippy put the patties half in and half out 🤣🤣😂😂😂

[@Mobile_Gamer707]

@DaemonFC it is yes people would get sick!

[@adriansand5890]

And the manager has "NO COMPLAINS"

[@notj5712]

AND that's the best it can do with a team of technicians fiddling with it prior and during filming. Far from ready for prime time.

[@jimy0803]

@Mobil Gamer 707 Human workers do it too tho.

[@realperez5032]

I wanna see flippy in a packed house under pressure!!!

[@TheBeast1911]

It still requires humans to do all the work, all it does is flip burgers lol

[@bloodynachos]

Not a problem. Robots can keep a pace and not get tired unlike people.

[@startedfromscratch1529]

Flippy gonna snatch off his apron and roll right off the line and smoke a cigarette 😂

[@mattmurdockthemanwithoutfear]

He’ll slinging burgers everywhere

[@hiroipip]

at least it doesnt have to take the unpaid 30 min break every 4hours and 10min paid break. It doesnt no call no show😂

[@Poporoporancio]

Looks like an extra worker that requires high maintenance, he is not replacing anyone, still needs a lot of help

[@johnnydwicked]

That moment when some human employees flip over flippy. =P

[@stephaniecade6708]

😂 Down goes Flippy.

[@binkymagnus]

"What is my purpose?" "You flip burgers." "Oh. My. God." "Yeah, welcome to the club pal." It's all fun and games until Flippy has an existential crisis and goes HAL9000 on everyone in the restaurant.

[@timsilverthorn6437]

Welcome to the club.

[@premisecomics5084]

yeah but they are leaving out the other 9 steps besides flipping haha. And most places don't need to flip a burger now.

[@CTimmerman]

HAL9000 did nothing wrong!

[@patricklynch9574]

All he sees is un ground beef.

[@my3dviews]

Open the freezer door Hal. Hal open the door and let me out. Hal.........Hal..........oh Hell. 😂

[@DianeBanks1]

Blown away by what he can do in 2 weeks? Wait til he replaces the employees in 2 years. Profiles of Flippy keep stressing that he's not there to replace humans, but the key to this interview is the manager saying how much BETTER Flippy is at cleaning the grill and watching & flipping the burgers than his employees. Bye humans.

[@Soldier4thaLORD]

They should have stopped whining about the minimum wage. $12 an hour to flip burgers is better than losing your job to a robot!

[@howardlam6181]

I prefer a machine doing the job than an incompetent human.

[@jimjam2024]

Flippy wont spit on your burger. Also arent there more important things humans can be doing than flipping a burger. I guess you are one of those that wants to get rid of the ATM and go back to having operators connecting your calls.

[@BManStan1991]

Good riddance tbh. I worked fast food. It’s hell.

[@mazing32able]

If robots take over the work force will live in a utopia

[@WilliamtheWorst]

"Hey, remember when Brenda, that mom of two worked here who could barely make ends meet but then we all asked for $15 an hour so meet Flippy!"

[@mwara2444]

At $15 / hr , and being conservative saying flippy cost $100,000, which is equal to one grill employee @$15 x 40hr week for 4 years And that's not including maintenance and software updates for Flippy and his upkeep or the electricity it would cost to run

[@jameshaney4494]

Winning

[@Blaze6108]

Now Brenda can be paid the with all the extra money the robot makes so she can go to college and get a better job! Eventually, everyone will be paid with robot money and people won't have to work anymore! At least that's how it would work in a sane society. Automation is coming for almost everyone anyways.

[@kentjg32]

@@Blaze6108 yes this is how it's supposed to work. You get robots to do the repetitive jobs, so humans can work on creation and shit robots can't do. For example, self checkouts in grocery stores. You still need human cashiers for alcohol, but the employees you do save on can restock aisles, clean more, shit like that.

[@HoodrichShinobi]

@@mwara2444 did you hear the guy? Welcome to 2022 where every 2 weeks new technology creates new possibilities. Imagine telling someone 10 years ago they can buy a 256 gb micro sd card for $15. If it costs them $100,000 today, it will cost them $50,000 in a matter of short years.

[@lancethrustworthy]

I'll be more impressed when the robotic system can take care of the entire hamburger making process. I'll want to see a more advanced Flippy, that notices when the patty sticks to the metal spatula and takes care of the situation. Just sayin'.

[@effexon]

ah so scrubbing it off of grill is still human work.... flippy just does those easiest parts

[@petarparchev2181]

Basic income is a great idea. This is the right way to go, automate the boring stuff. Free up work to let humans explore, learn, and expand their horizons. The thing that has to change is the structure of our Society and Economy.

[@asgrides4499]

Yeah no

[@kisa4748]

ASG Rides Suck it up buttercup

[@jimmie159]

Agree ubi is the way to go. Agreed with yang but somewhat disagreed with him taking away some social welfare programs. That is, unless his ubi were large enough to effectively remove those social programs, then im all in

[@andy_182]

We will always need bottom feeders in the food chain

[@kisa4748]

Andy Bradford Only if you're not the one suffering

[@BeyondAverageSkilled]

So now I know my burgers won't have spit on them, good

[@h7opolo]

cooking at home eliminates that fear

[@bigbadwolf8207]

It will never go as faster and multi task faster then a human

[@phinonchill3717]

Not yet

[@samsonslmpson1986]

Ummm...

[@trevorjee43]

“Let me talk to the chef”

[@carjaune6793]

2020: Flippy is now for sale!

I'm pretty sure, Sponge Bob would do better!

[@scottwins2]

Ha

[@miamiflorida2043]

Sponge Bob is out a job

[@sampinargote55]

Yeah man this thing definitely can't flip burgers underwater like my boy bob

[@thepowerofthegodhand7003]

Yep and for free

[@mrchristoph5674]

Gary the snail!

[@videojockeysword]

Burger King never needed "flippers"...

[@keane2372]

Flippy will soon be texting his buddies and smoking a joint in the parking lot on his break

[@marlenejones9289]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@sarhuu]

This is just the start lol we're gonna have restaurants like McSpanky's on jimmy neutron where the whole place was ran by robots

[@andrewhollenbach7330]

100%, just 1 -2 people keeping an eye on things and that's it.

[@loboswildin]

Good. Bet they won't mess up my order

[@tyachartier3925]

The demand for higher minimum wage will make these robots a viable economic option. You will then have millions of people who decided to make a career of a low skill minimum wage jobs unemployed with no valuable skills for the workforce. This is why I hate you ppl that demand a raise in minimum wage and work these jobs. Your lack of ambition in life causes the consumer to suffer with higher prices. Your raise is an illusion, as all other variables are offset to account for the added labor of the end product. You are about to be the death blow to our economy because you want to skate around life getting stoned and have no desire to gain valuable skills to make top pay. The rise of the machines is amongst us, and our downfall is behind the corner.

[@matthewmcneil216]

Omg your so right. it's not fair to people who try to do something with their life to have these idiots demand more money when now they gonna be without a job

[@privategramcracker01]

S O D I U M C H L O R I D E

[@julior1867]

This is what happens when you start asking for 15$ an hour lol

[@ax2643]

Human beings shouldnt desire to be working shitty ass jobs like that to begin with. They should be automated. And taxed.

[@andy_182]

A X nope

[@ax2643]

@@andy_182 You are a goosestepper for the one percent, I expected you to say this. After all its in your contract.

[@andy_182]

A X I am the one percent. Without bottom feeder brainless labor, we won’t have a 1% and I can’t stand for that

[@ax2643]

@@vinayakachannappaajithanan9132 The company who is using the robot in leu of human labor dummy

[@STONEYCLAW]

THATS ALOT OF SALT

[@visualonestudio]

The person seems to do most of the work. Flippy is just and expensive spatula. Sorry flippy.

[@triple7marc]

If you watched the video, the guy says that Flippy will do more in the future, and is still being developed and updated often.

[@premisecomics5084]

@@triple7marc these machines are all too slow and require too much assistence from humans. The ones we have at walmart have doubled the amount of work that is required of us, but they won't admit it's a waste

[@triple7marc]

@@premisecomics5084 Please re-read my comment.

[@triple7marc]

@@premisecomics5084 And yeah I worked at Walmart as a Cap 2 associate without the automated sorter. It was a hell of a lot of work.

[@premisecomics5084]

@@triple7marc the new video of flippy from 3 months ago is still too slow. Just be in everyone's way

[@OrunitaVivi]

That's cute but I think the future of fast food will be a conveyor belt process that doesn't require as much human intervention

[@sirsackolis5203]

I was thinking the same thing, maybe a dominoes style conveyer, food comes out the end ready to go

[@mohammadessawy8879]

the AI will get better so human intervention isn't needed

[@3jake5mee]

this would allow restaurants to not change their floor plan, conveyor built is cool but they’d need to design interior

[@idaho5k736]

Computers making computers is when this hits for real. In 2 years. I bet this thing flips 40 burgers a minute without any help from a human. Then it will order from the manufacturer when they are low on product. And a automated drone will bring it.

[@premisecomics5084]

yeah they are building this to work in the same room that is built for humans. Why. Won't we not need humans to do the cooking, it should be in an area for only machines to operate

[@SunnyZ]

How about that last X-Files ep when Scully and Mulder get berated by robots xD This is our future!

[@GenerationXT]

Surprised more restaurant chains haven't already been using robots. They've already been used in other industries for years, for more complex tasks than this.

[@basementcat5618]

It is an expensive up front investment that requires maintenance and expertise to keep running and updating. Also, food given to a robot for mixing and cooking has to have a uniform size, shape, and consistency .. or things go wrong. All this is hard to plan and implement. Flipping burgers is simply the easiest task to automate. They have a robot for pizzas too. It puts sauce and toppings on and pulls it in and out of the oven. But these are simple tasks. More complex tasks require more innovation and more supervision and more maintenance. more expensive. you can easily justify such up front costs and overhead in a factory setting where you will make and sell thousands or millions of items, but a small restaurant is a different setting.

[@princeekeson12]

If they don't start giving Flippy benefits, he and the other robots might start unionizing.

[@robh.5658]

That'll be funny when the robots start demanding that they be paid. The employers will be like, WHAT? We created you so we didn't have to spend money on paying our workers. 😆

[@robertfletcher3479]

A robot taking jobs from high school students lol

[@stoundingresults]

Cooks are the restaurant's hero, I now realized.

[@deen8232]

What's funny is the people who make robots for restaurants don't understand that eating out is a social thing. Buddy 1 "Hey man what you doing" Buddy 2 "Notthing" Buddy 1 " Wanna go eat ' Buddy 2 "Sure" People go to restaurant to have conversations ,people watch etc. This is more suited to a vending machine for a person who wants a quick burger

[@007nadineL]

That's absolutely horrifyingly disgusting. Flippy flipped two burgers that missed the tray and both were directly on the counter. I don't know if that counter is clean or not. I love how the employee shoved them a little bit back more on the tray and pretended that they were never on the counter, then he promptly wrapped them up and served them to unsuspecting customers. This is a massive huge freakin fail.

[@alexanderleeart]

jesus no one's saying it's perfect. It's an iterative process to develop the technology, and soon robots will do all the tasks in fast food with no human assistance.

[@Itsnotavailable]

@@alexanderleeart you are missing the point! They guy still served the two burgers which touched the counter dip shit that's what this discussion is about.

[@devon6039]

In other words, flippy cares as much as employees do. You're a great marketer!

[@iansmith3975]

Imagine when flippy tries to cash in his sick time

[@mattmurdockthemanwithoutfear]

😂

[@gravityUTube]

poor people: "we demand higher salaries! raise minimum wage!" restaurant industries:

[@johnnyboy55]

Exactly! Plus they don’t need vacation time, sick time or health insurance. No money spent on training or uniforms. Flippy is $3000 a month. Including routine maintenance and service calls. Video on the website is pretty cool. Miso Robotics. They make a machine for fried food and one specifically for wings and fried chicken.

[@OhNotThat]

"Sadly Cali burger in pasadena corner of Marengo & Green was a Chinese CCP owned. burger joint closed due to poor sales and crappy burgers." Turns out this bs was exactly that - bs. 5 years later and it went nowhere.

[@LIVEFRMNYC]

I think I'm going to form a union for robots.

[@mikeg3439]

Speaking as someone working in Pasadena, this would be far more interesting if the place actually DID open. The reports you hear about it are 98% BS. The place hasn't opened and from all we can tell, it doesn't seem like it's going to.

[@mrpmac]

Is there a larger one that flips houses? (sorry, couldn't resist)

[@coondogtheman]

I remember a long time ago seeing a cartoon of some sort on TV and it had a robot arm and it was putting things on a hamburger, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, and when it got to the onions another robot hand held up it's hand like "hold the onions" . I'd like to find that cartoon again but I don't remember the name of it. The robot in the cartoon that I saw did more work than the robot in this video.

[@overwatchgames6925]

*Fuking Flippy fired at **2:03*

[@bradrunyan9534]

"It's a Dance With Flippy"!

[@caliifuego2022]

Flippy flipping that work!

[@corbingraham398]

I'm sorry did he say 2 week vacation in the food industry? By far most impressive thing in this video...

[@271828183141592654]

What did that robot arm achieve as a function of time that the human worker (guy in black) could not do at the same time? It isn't even autonomous at all. I mean that the success of a properly cooked hamburger rests on the quick regular intervention of the human worker.

[@solarforfuture]

only 60,000...dollars? burger king has had autoflip for 20 years ?

[@marcomagana7639]

And Thats The end for the Career of a Cook

[@bluebowser9863]

*its like he’s opening a furnace in Minecraft and checking on the things cooking*

[@bertsbug]

Won't need to pay all these kids $15 a hr now sweet

[@neomis0119]

maybe in a real high volume kitchen, but id install on the ceiling and have it take less space, my guy will be placing burgers on the griddle and he walks away(after they start to season which we aren't there yet) even then this thing would have to be extremely durable and low maintenance for it to be fee-sable.

[@nobodyreally6345]

August 29th, 1997. At 2:14 a m. Eastern Time it becomes self-aware and launches its missiles against the targets in Russia.

[@bodiddley2849]

Wait until flippy gets pissed for not having a break and the guy get slap with the spatula.

[@LTDANMAN44]

I WANT A FLIPPY BURGER! :)

[@robertm3951]

A conveyor belt seems more practical unless the robot is progammable to do more than flip burgers

[@coreymarks40]

And in a minute flippy will have your job while you're explaining his job.

[@Jackthefanman800]

Is it still there today?

[@biga4135]

They are now up for sale

[@chrisgioko]

The X-Files S11E07, holy shit!

[@egold33311]

I am sure the local Burger King has the ability to just put a burger in one end and it comes out the other cooked both sides...

[@kingtunip6386]

In all honesty everyone made it seem like this will replace a burger flipper..... It cant even put paddies on the grill, so flippy is more like a tool and not our replacement (yet)

[@Sir_Pumpington_Of_Dumpenshire]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4HScp2Ird51h7M

[@henryjoshual1848]

Flippy is basically a low-tech robotic arm from the 1970s that can perform only ONE function of a multi-function job. And Flippy needs complete human supervision to perform just that one task !!! Thanks, I'll stick with the high-pitched voice teenager who works all those fast food jobs on The Simpsons.

[@Vorpal_Wit]

Why design a robot to do a task designed for humans? Why not just redesign the task to be done by a machine? For example, you wouldn't design a robot to learn how to set up logs and swing an axe at them, you'd just build a log-splitting machine.

[@malikjalaluddin3239]

Beautiful

[@rushattack1]

It's all good till flippy accidently stabs someone with a spatula.

[@tinawildcat6951]

So begins what we saw ( and didn’t learn from ) in Terminator.

[@WaynePryce]

A robot flipping burgers with an Asian guy with an Italian name in a new York restaurant in California...Says captain obvious...Be careful when flippy flips out I heard spatulas be flying at 90 mph🤣🤣😂

[@Blueberry40]

The future is here.

[@jackhackett80]

Many of us have worked at fast food some point in our lives and it's thankless work. While an invention like this is brilliant from a business perspective, don't expect it to raise the morale of the humans. Without a doubt we will see more of these in the future.

[@tstoneami]

Long way to go.

[@willsmith578]

Flippy about to be your new manager

[@VelcroKittie]

Unsure if people have kept up to date with flippy but they fired him because he was too slow. I'm not even joking. They ceased the robot project due to humans being faster. Poor flippy

[@8cupsCoffee]

Yeah he looks slow! Have you seen the guys that work the grill? Fast af

[@MM-ow2md]

This video was uploaded 5 years ago. Has the restaurant been operating that long? Why all the sudden media publicity and interviews now in Jan 2024?

[@VincentAnzalone]

Wait so flippy just flips burgers and scrapes a grill... Good luck on that ROI as an early adopter.

[@zyrover]

If all a human could do was flip burgers and move them from the cooking area to a tray, they would fire his ass the first day.

[@anshajmathur7997]

what is that song called?

[@chrismach454]

I wonder if flippy ever thinks, fuck this job fuck that tray too lmaooa

[@user-nq5be9fz1g]

How long b4 tonys not needed hes just throwin patties on the grill

[@heroedeleyenda05]

2:02 * robot puts burgers on countertop * "He did good! Im really satisfied" Proof that fast food places dont give a sh*t

[@heroedeleyenda05]

@Michael Gia Huy Nguyen implying my comment was a serious comment

[@premisecomics5084]

@@heroedeleyenda05 i know the one day i worked at mcdonalds then quit i didn't give a shit. It's gross back there

[@projectluraz5745]

Wow

[@jish55]

give it another 1-2 years, and it won't need a robotic arm as it could be done through a conveyer belt where each patty is removed and put onto a cooking sheet and slow cooked on both sides, then it slides the cheese on whichever patty needs it, then have an arm at the end slide it onto a pre sauced bun that was prepared just before. Once on said bun, the arm slides it to the final prep state where another robot slices veggies onto it, as another machine cuts, cooks, and salts fries before sliding that onto the same plate, then through a conveyer belt, deposits it safely with the proper number down onto the ordering table which lets the person know their foods ready.

[@michaellaughlin9179]

What kind of robot will get the camera mans job for walking in the shot

[@scottwins2]

"I don't want to put the burgers on the tray, Dave"

[@keyserswift5077]

A monolith has appeared.

[@CrimeDoesNotPay]

I like how they sped up the camera speed cause floppy was scraping too slow

[@franz909]

Also , it was early in day, after the grime builds up it'll be more difficult to clean

[@tieflingcorpse9817]

anyone else kind think this feels like "id rather build a robot than pay you higher wages"

[@randomname3715]

I live in Cali. Never heard of Cali burger. They are going to put this in 50 locations but they only have 2 California locations. What does that tell you.

[@moiacolucci]

Flippy looks relatively general purpose.. Wonder if there could be a more specialized burger frying machine...

[@zombie41234]

That’s what happens when you try to force business pay 15 dollars a hour

[@peglegjoe]

zombie41234 people don’t realize that this technology will be more intelligent, efficient and cheaper in the VERY near future. I tell them to look it up on their smartphone which no one had their face buried in 10 years ago.

[@SaltVinegar2010]

zombie41234 No this is what happens regardless. Even if minimum wage was $1 a day. Workers would eventually get replaced.

[@xRossLamx]

It was inevitable but yeah the 15 dollar crowd expedited the arrival of this technology

[@i_like_to_ruin_jokes1099]

Worker: i need $15 an hour, nothing less than that Robot: i stack that electricity bill

[@samsonslmpson1986]

Cameraman in the back said F your interview

[@Cheeks63091]

Dope

[@Kriswixx]

Nor currently available in the Philly market. rip Hitchbot.

[@ramiabram6010]

See kids if you don't go to school you will be like this robot

[@MacNifty]

What these guys show anyone can do we have been able to do it since the armatron of 1980. We have always had computers in our homes and they will have always been accessible to control and add external IO. Our video games have been teaching us how the computer can learn how to control us and reverse all along.

[@Grass1981]

Floppy looks disappointed it couldn't out the cheese on

[@BeckVMH]

Curious who, how and time required to clean the robot arm from grease and other material. That's a messy environment.

[@meganabaja]

Looks like the boss has to move at flippy's pace and cannot rush it to do better than whats possible, looks like the boss has to keep an eye on it much longer and often than acceptable, looks like you cant leave flippy alone with the job, they'll upgrade it but they'll also upgrade the problem.

[@summerbreeze5758]

No more spitting in ur food and dropping ur food on the floor by the employees who doesn’t care

[@oddlysatifyingpostsodd8754]

Flippy dropped your food on the counter top at 2:02 I don’t think it will be any better knowing some robot dropped your burger and the manager or employee picks it up and serves you it regardless

[@asmokingp3005]

SO when floppy going to take over manager cause he doesnt even have a crew to manage anymore 👀🤣

[@bluebowser9863]

*if scientists keep this up we’re going to have robotic cash registers that can take your order*

[@mattmurdockthemanwithoutfear]

I’m from the future Flippy is everywhere

[@UsweetLeilani]

Mechanical parts wear out and break down... like those awesome eco-friendly windmills that are the size of a school bus (Just the motors!) and end up in our not-so-enviro-friendly landfills.