• News
  • Technology Features
  • Stock and Shares
  • Videos
  • Events
  • About This Site
  • Meet the Writers
  • Advertising
  • Email Newsletters
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Food and Farming TechnologyFood and Farming Technology
  • News
        • Aeroponics
        • Agricultural Drones
        • Agricultural Machinery
        • Animal Feed
        • Animal Health
        • Aquaculture
        • Artificial Intelligence
        • Autonomous Robots
        • Autonomous Vehicles
        • Biotechnology
        • Blockchain
        • Business
        • Controlled Environment Agriculture
        • Cultured Meat
        • Data & Analytics
        • Energy
        • Environment
        • Farming Equipment
        • Fertilisers
        • Food Delivery
        • Food Logistics
        • Food Manufacture
        • Food Packaging
        • Food Safety
        • GPS Tracking
        • Harvesting Technology
        • Ingredients
        • Hydroponics
        • Insect Farming
        • Internet of Things (IoT)
        • Livestock Monitoring
        • Microsensors
        • New Products
        • Pest Management
        • Plant Based Foods
        • Plant Health
        • Precision Agriculture
        • Protein
        • Robotics
        • Satellite Crop Monitoring
        • Soil Management
        • Sowing and Planting
        • Space Farming
        • Sustainability
        • Vertical Farming
  • Tech Features
  • Videos
  • Stocks & Shares
        • AGCO Corporation (AGCO)
        • Agronomics Limited
        • Alico, Inc. (ALCO)
        • Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)
        • AppHarvest
        • Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM)
        • Bayer AG (BAYN.DE)
        • Beyond Meat, Inc. (BYND)
        • Bridgford Foods Corporation (BRID)
        • Bunge Limited (BG)
        • Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (CVGW)
        • Calavo Growers, Inc. (CALM)
        • Caterpillar Inc. (CAT)
        • CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF)
        • CNH Industrial NV
        • Corteva Agriscience
        • Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)
        • Deere & Company (DE)
        • Eat Beyond Global
        • Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (FDP)
        • Krones AG (KRN.DE)
        • McCormick & Company, Incorporated (MKC)
        • McDonald’s Corporation (MCD)
        • Mondelez International, Inc. (MDLZ)
        • Nutrien Ltd. (NTR)
        • Origin Agritech Limited (SEED)
        • Real Good Food plc (RGD.L)
        • MeaTech 3D Ltd
        • S&W Seed Company (SANW)
        • Sanderson Farms, Inc. (SAFM)
        • Shineco, Inc. (TYHT)
        • SunOpta Inc. (STKL)
        • Sysco Corporation (SYY)
        • The Andersons, Inc. (ANDE)
        • The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC)
        • The Mosaic Company (MOS)
        • Tyson Foods, Inc.
        • YUM! Brands, Inc. (YUM)
        • Walmart Inc. (WMT)
  • Events
    • Virtual
    • North America
    • Europe
    • MENA
    • Asia
    • South America
LinkedIn Twitter Facebook
Food and Farming TechnologyFood and Farming Technology
Artificial Intelligence

Pizza-making robot feeds geeks at CES 2020

Leah ZitterBy Leah ZitterJanuary 8, 2020No Comments
Share
LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Email

Las Vegas Convention Center food service provider Centerplate, is impressing the expected 200,000 people flocking to CES 2020 this week with Seattle-based Picnic’s pizza-making robot. A machine capable of churning out up to 300 pizzas an hour. Centerplate has already used Picnic’s pizza tech during a pilot program at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park last year.

There’s really nothing to it, or perhaps that’s just how this machine makes it seem. The robot moves the dough along a conveyor belt, as it variously drizzles cheese, followed by tomato sauce, fresh pepperoni and toppings, before it slaps the dish onto a heating pad for baking.

Talking about toppings, the robot has a series of modules that sprinkles whichever toppings you want in whichever order you choose. And you still get the human touch – since it’s human workers who prepare the dough and sauce and cut up the baked pizza.

AI comes into play via a vision system that allows the robot to make adjustments if the pizza is slightly off-center. It’s also hooked up to the internet and sends data back to Picnic™ so the system can learn from any mistakes.

Labor saving

Picnic’s automated system requires just one worker to place the dough into the assembly line and replenish the toppings.  “Low-trained workers, especially in food service where there is huge turnover, tend to make pizza very inconsistently,” Picnic™ CEO Clayton Wood told spectators. “We can make the same pizza over and over again, with fresh ingredients that the chef chooses.”

Meant mostly for restaurants, Picnic’s business model is pizza-as-a-service. Restaurant owners pay a regular fee in return for the system and ongoing maintenance as well as software and hardware updates.

In fact, Clayton Wood insists Picnic’s robot saves restaurants money since it saves them workers and time. Furthermore, the robot supplies restaurants with the equivalence of the food service workers that the 2019 State of the Restaurant Industry Report says are hard to come by:

Staffing is a top challenge. The prolonged economic expansion has led to a tighter labor market for business in many industries, but the restaurant industry also continues to be impacted by longer-term structural changes in the labor force. As a result, recruiting and retaining employees will be among the top challenges faced by restaurant operators in 2020.

Well, now that problem is solved with Picnic’s pizza-making machine. Particularly, since the robot churns out hundreds of 12-inch or 18 inch customized pizzas an hour.

As to pizza making competitors, we’ve had robot pizza machines a plenty that include the pizza-making robot by two French engineers (it never left the factory shelf); the San Francisco-based Zume’s pizza robot system and Little Caesars patented pizza-making robot, among others.

So, how does Picnic’s pizza-making machine compare?

Picnic unveils its intelligent food assembly platform. The Picnic system enables high-volume, consistent, customizable pizzas and access to operational back-end data for food service providers.
The Picnic™ system enables high-volume, consistent, customizable pizzas & access to operational back-end data

For starters, it’s small enough to fit in most restaurant kitchens, the recipes can be tweaked to suit your whims, and – best of all – the ingredients are fresh.

Down the line, Picnic wants to use the same robotic system to assemble salads, bowls and sandwiches.

So far, the robot’s still relatively new to the public scene. But look out – it’s on the way:

https://www.foodandfarmingtechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/PicnicShort.mp4

Images and video content provided by Picnic™

Share. LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Email
Leah Zitter

Leah Zitter is an award-winning High-Tech writer/ journalist with a PhD in Research and clients that include the Association For Advancing Automation (A3).

Related Stories

Autonomous Vehicles

“The future of agriculture starts now” – John Deere launches autonomous 8R tractor

January 4, 2022
Biotechnology

Elo Life Systems becomes independent food & agriculture business

December 22, 2021
Latest News

IGS and Eden Towers to build vertical farm in Perth, Australia

February 1, 2022

“The future of agriculture starts now” – John Deere launches autonomous 8R tractor

January 4, 2022

Elo Life Systems becomes independent food & agriculture business

December 22, 2021
In the Spotlight

Reducing methane emissions from cattle and dairy farming

November 15, 2021By Matt Peskett

At COP26 this month, 105 countries including the US, Canada and Brazil promised to reduce…



Upcoming Events
  1. Agritechnica Asia 2023

    May 25 @ 9:00 am - May 27 @ 5:00 pm
  2. Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit in June 2022 – New York

    June 23 @ 9:00 am - June 24 @ 5:00 pm
  3. iVT Expo

    June 29 - June 30
  4. World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit 2022 – London

    September 20 @ 9:00 am - September 21 @ 5:00 pm

View All Events

Site Information

About This Site
Advertising
Meet the Writers
Free Email Newsletters

LinkedIn Twitter Facebook
© 2021 Food & Farming Technology is owned by Firetop Ltd 4854392 | © Editorial images: stock.adobe.com | All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Analytics" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Necessary" category .
elementorneverThis cookie is used by the website's WordPress theme. It allows the website owner to implement or change the website's content in real-time.
PHPSESSIDsessionThis cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
ab1 yearOwned by agkn, this cookie is used for targeting and advertising purposes.
CMID1 yearCasale Media sets this cookie to collect information on user behavior, for targeted advertising.
CMPRO3 monthsCMPRO cookie is set by CasaleMedia for anonymous user tracking, and for targeted advertising.
CMPS3 monthsCMPS cookie is set by CasaleMedia for anonymous user tracking based on user's website visits, for displaying targeted ads.
CMST1 dayCasale Media sets this cookie to collect information on user behavior, for targeted advertising.
DSID1 hourThis cookie is set by DoubleClick to note the user's specific user identity. It contains a hashed/encrypted unique ID.
id1 year 1 monthSet by Google DoubleClick, this cookie is used to create user profiles to display relevant ads.
IDE1 year 24 daysGoogle DoubleClick IDE cookies are used to store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads and according to the user profile.
KADUSERCOOKIE3 monthsThe cookie, set by PubMatic, registers a unique ID that identifies a returning user's device across websites that use the same ad network. The ID is used for targeted ads.
KTPCACOOKIE1 dayThe cookie, set by PubMatic, registers a unique ID that identifies a returning user's device across websites that use the same ad network. The ID is used for targeted ads.
mc1 year 1 monthQuantserve sets the mc cookie to anonymously track user behaviour on the website.
mdata1 year 1 monthThis cookie is used by Media Innovation group and registers a unique ID to identify a visitor on their revisit, in order to show them relevant ads.
OAGEOsessionOpenX sets this cookie to avoid the repeated display of the same ad.
OAID1 yearCookie set to record whether the user has opted out of the collection of information by the AdsWizz Service Cookies.
ov1 year 1 monthThis cookie is set by the provider mookie1.com. This cookie is used for serving the user with relevant content and advertisement.
pxrc2 monthsThis cookie is set by pippio to provide users with relevant advertisements and limit the number of ads displayed.
rlas31 yearRLCDN sets this cookie to provide users with relevant advertisements and limit the number of ads displayed.
test_cookie15 minutesThe test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
uuid3 monthsMediaMath sets this cookie to avoid the same ads from being shown repeatedly and for relevant advertising.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysA cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
__gads1 year 24 daysThe __gads cookie, set by Google, is stored under DoubleClick domain and tracks the number of times users see an advert, measures the success of the campaign and calculates its revenue. This cookie can only be read from the domain they are set on and will not track any data while browsing through other sites.
_ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_gat_gtag_UA_154262053_11 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
_gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
u1 yearThis cookie is used by Bombora to collect information that is used either in aggregate form, to help understand how websites are being used or how effective marketing campaigns are, or to help customize the websites for visitors.
uid1 year 1 monthThis is a Google UserID cookie that tracks users across various website segments.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
GoogleAdServingTestsessionNo description
ppwp_wp_session30 minutesNo description
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
CookieDurationDescription
na_id1 year 1 monthThe na_id is set by AddThis to enable sharing of links on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
na_rn1 monthThe na_rn cookie is used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. It allows to record details on user behaviour and facilitate the social sharing function provided by Addthis.com.
na_sc_e1 monthThe na_sc_e cookie is used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. It allows to record details on user behaviour and facilitate the social sharing function provided by Addthis.com.
na_sr1 monthThe na_sr cookie is used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. It allows to record details on user behaviour and facilitate the social sharing function provided by Addthis.com.
na_srp1 minuteThe na_srp cookie is used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. It allows to record details on user behaviour and facilitate the social sharing function provided by Addthis.com.
na_tc1 year 1 monthThe na_tc cookie is used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. It allows to record details on user behaviour and facilitate the social sharing function provided by Addthis.com.
ouid1 year 1 monthAssociated with the AddThis widget, this cookie helps users to share content across various networking and sharing forums.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
CookieDurationDescription
d3 monthsQuantserve sets this cookie to anonymously track information on how visitors use the website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo