Enai (CEO Hwang Geon-pil) announced on the sixth that it would expand beyond hamburger cooking equipment and into the software field this yr and launch 'Alpha Cloud', which manages real-time hamburger patty quality based on vision artificial intelligence (AI).

Currently, AI robots that cook various foods equivalent to hamburgers, chicken, and pizza are emerging as a trend within the restaurant industry. It is because the demand and wish for 'automation systems' is increasing within the restaurant industry, which is having difficulty recruiting employees because it suffers from long, labor-intensive work hours.

Particularly, Market & Market, a worldwide research company, predicted that the food cooking robot market, which was $1.9 billion in 2020, will expand to $4 billion in 2026. The domestic cooking robot market can be growing. The Rural Economic Research Institute estimated the variety of cooking robots to be introduced in 2023 at 5,000. It is a 10-fold increase in two years from 500 units in 2021.

Particularly, AI is claimed to be effective in that it consistently manages the taste and quality of food. Cooking robots not only stir-fry, fry, and bake ingredients in line with set times and temperatures, but in addition collect information throughout the cooking process. It determines the freshness of food ingredients and manages not only the colour of the food surface (Maillard response) but in addition the temperature after cooking.

He emphasized that the important thing to the taste of a hamburger is a well-cooked patty in line with the recipe. Normally, probably the most experienced employees in the shop are in command of the hamburger patties and the grill part. The reason is that considerable skill is required because a whole lot of patties should be made a day with consistent taste and quality while adhering to the suitable cooking temperature.

To this end, beyond the cooking robot 'Alpha Grill', we plan to introduce a cloud-based quality management system 'Alpha Cloud' inside this yr.

'Alpha Cloud' uses a camera and vision sensor mounted on the hamburger cooking robot 'Alpha Grill' to detect the surface color of the patty in real time and evaluate its quality. It’s a structure where cooking and inspection occur concurrently.

If the patty is undercooked below the usual, the robot immediately sends a notification to the cooking staff, enabling systematic quality control. Through this, it is feasible to offer uniform taste in addition to maintain consistent quality. Particularly, he emphasized that within the case of huge franchises, it is feasible to scale back the variation in taste that happens between stores.

Alpha Cloud is scheduled to be unveiled for the primary time on the American Restaurant Expo held in Chicago in May this yr.

Meanwhile, ENI succeeded in developing and commercializing the primary AI hamburger patty cooking robot in Korea. CEO Hwang Geon-pil and 4 co-founders have been researching core technologies needed for robot kitchens, including electrical and electronic engineering, robot control, design, and artificial intelligence cognitive technology, on the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

The Alpha Grill can cook 200 patties per hour, so it could possibly easily produce orders throughout the busiest times. Cameras and sensors may be used to examine the form and cooking level of the patty, ensuring consistent taste and quality.

Consequently, its technology was recognized by winning the Innovation Award on the ‘Kitchen Innovation Awards’ on the ‘NRA Show’, the world’s largest restaurant exhibition within the US. Currently, seven domestic hamburger stores are operating robot services, and pilot tests with large U.S. hamburger brands are also underway.

Recently, it has attracted $12 million (roughly 15.7 billion won) in pre-Series A investment and is growing rapidly. The entire collected investment amount is $15 million (roughly KRW 19.7 billion).

Enai CTO Ji Min-soo said, “We’re actively recruiting excellent talent within the software development field within the back-end, DevOps, and data science fields,” and added, “By analyzing data collected by robots, we’ll advance AI technology and improve service to assist people within the restaurant industry. “We are going to create an environment where you may work efficiently and comfortably.”

Reporter Jang Se-min semim99@aitimes.com