Chipotle robots may soon construct your salads and bowls

The fast-casual chain announced Tuesday a new automated digital “makeline” that uses machines to build bowls and salads to customer specifications. Human employees are then expected to incorporate the robot-assembled ingredients into burritos, tacos and quesadillas.Chipotle's new digital makeline built by Hyphen, which they are calling “cobotics” or collaborative robotics, integrates with human workers to assemble orders.

Black beans or pinto; carnitas or chicken al pastor? The customer keys in a digital order, a bowl shoots down and the ingredients are dispensed from above.Curt Garner, Chipotle’s chief customer and technology officer, said the goal is not to replace workers but to meet the rising demands of serving customers who order online in addition to those who come into the store. Digital sales in 2022 were $3 billion, Garner said, about 38 percent of sales overall.

The shift is part of Chipotle’s foray into “cobotics” — collaborative robots that work with, rather than replace, humans. The quick-serve chain has dabbled in robotics before, debuting a robotic “Autocado” this year that cuts, cores and peels avocados to be turned into guacamole, and prototyping a robot calledGarner insists the innovations are meant to help human employees with onerous tasks.

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