Just Like Mombot Used to Make From: New York Times - 02/23/2010 By: Ian Daly & Yasue Aoi Robots that serve and prepare food have been developed by various institutions and companies, mainly to promote new technological breakthroughs, to imbue robots with personalities to help overcome an animus toward them, and to position the machines for work in other industries. For instance, researchers at Switzerland's Learning Algorithms and Systems Laboratory invented the Chief Cook Robot, an omelet-making machine that can be "taught" to perform complex tasks. Underlying such efforts is the desire to change the often threatening and distrustful way we perceive robots, says NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory roboticist Heather Knight. The spate of food-serving and food-making robots calls attention to the fact that developers are migrating away from a previous focus on efficiency and toward one of personality and more comfortable human-machine interaction. Read the entire article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/dining/24robots.html Links: Chief Cook Robot http://hackaday.com/2008/05/24/the-chief-cook-robot/ The Chief Cook Robot (long version) - 10:45 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvoJxmaoi8A The Chief Cook Robot helps prepare an omelet http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20080523/the-chief-cook-robot-helps-prepare-an-omelet/ Heather Knight http://robotic.media.mit.edu/people/heather/heather.html http://www.robotliving.com/2009/07/30/heather-knight-roboticist/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H672f_3PQk