Next month will see Flippy, the burger-flipping robot, make its debut in the concessions at Dodger Stadium for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Flippy was first rolled out at Caliburger in Pasadena, CA in March of this year, before retooled to better deal with the rush of customers. In the time since being retooled, Flippy has begun working full-time at Caliburger in Pasadena and is now preparing to be a part of the operations at Dodger Stadium.
The current plan is for Flippy to make its Dodger Stadium debut in mid-August. At the ballpark, Flippy will work in the concessions stand to assist in the preparation of fried chicken tenders and tater tots. More from USA Today:
“We’re all for advances that help with quality and speed of service for our fans,” Dodgers Chief Financial Officer Tucker Kain said.
[Miso Robotics CEO David] Zito insists the robot is ready for the crush of the crowds. He notes that Flippy has expanded from just being in operation during the lunch hours to working full time at Caliburger in Pasadena.
The robot can automatically detect the temperatures across the fryer, monitor the cooking process in real-time and also display the cooking time on a screen, according to Miso Robotics. This alerts stadium employees when each basket of chicken and tater tots is ready to be manually temperature-checked and served.
Training has been underway to help concessions employees at Dodger Stadium work with Flippy, with Miso Robotics, the Dodgers, and Dodger Stadium concessionaire Levy Restaurants involved in that effort.