Jack In The Box Just Partnered With Miso Robotics. Here's Why

Robots and the food-service industry can't seem to get enough of one another these days. In yet another positive development for Miso Robotics, the fast-food burger chain Jack in the Box has announced plans try out two of the company's robot kitchen assistants, joining similar tests from other companies like White Castle and Chipotle. The new partnership was announced by Miso Robotics in a press release on April 26, revealing that its Sippy and Flippy 2 systems will be used as part of a trial run in a Jack in the Box restaurant.

Flippy 2 and Sippy are both designed to improve kitchen efficiency by automating simple and highly repeatable, albeit potentially difficult, tasks. This can include frying chips, as one example, ultimately freeing up human workers to focus on other, more complex tasks. For now, only one Jack in the Box restaurant located in San Diego will receive the two robots, and the outcome of the tests will help determine whether the chain rolls out more of Miso's AI-powered systems to additional locations. The business decision comes amid an ongoing labor shortage that has impacted fast-food restaurants, among other businesses.

Both Flippy 2 and Sippy are used at other fast-food chains, including White Castle, where Flippy 2 entered testing in November 2021 prior to rolling out to over 100 locations beginning on February 15. However, neither of these automatons looks like anything out of a sci-fi film. Instead, they're designed to perform very simple and repeatable tasks, such as dunking food into a fryer, with the assistance of AI to keep things on task.

Flippy 2 is exactly what it sounds like: a giant robotic arm that can theoretically hold any type of food item in its frying basket apparatus. The system is programmed to determine just how long to dunk the basket, usually into a vat of hot oil, before taking it back out once the food items in the basket are fully cooked.

Sippy, which is the other robot that will be tested by Jack in the Box, looks like any other drink dispenser at first glance. Much like Flippy 2, it automates its respective processes. It can move cups along a conveyor belt, fill them, seal the cup, and even group similar drinks together. In this sense, a Sippy unit can complete a drink order entirely on its own with minimal assistance from human staff.