Apropos Cocktailrobots

David Calkins, robotics prof from sunny California, just sent an article about ROBOEXOTICA he wrote for an undisclosed print magazine ...
His account of a mojito being assembled by Robomoji is truly a gem!

"Consider if you will then, the wonder that is Robomoji – a marvelous Rube Goldbergesque robot made by Austrian Robert Martin, that makes you a fresh mojito without any complaints but with a free serving of charm.

Upon paying, your glass moves out from a giant horizontal gear onto a chain drive (no ordinary chain here – this is a real 1 gauge hurricane chain!) Two clear mechatronic boxes hover above your glass at the first stage. The first clear reservoir is filled with fresh mint leaves, which are ground out and into your glass using a giant sharp-toothed sprocket inside the casing. A second identical reservoir slowly grinds fresh chopped ice into your glass.

The chain drive slowly moves your glass along to the next stage, where your glass awaits a delivery of fresh fruit. A fresh lime is released from an upper tank two feet above your glass, and slowly rolls down a twisting path, where it finally gets chopped in half before having all the juice squeezed out of it to join the mint and ice. The sounds of a giant saw tooth blade are all you hear as the chain slowly advances to the next stage, where a pneumatically-powered wooden mortar then pounds your lime, mint and ice into an aromatic mix which perks up your appetite.

The final stage adds simple syrup (sugar water, held in a Rose’s lime bottle) and spiced rum to the glass, filling it via an electrically actuated pouring system guaranteeing a perfect mix and eliminating short-pours. The saw blade continues its drudgery and your newly formed cocktail makes its way to the end of the robot and into your greedy little mitt. You got a great show, a perfectly mixed cocktail, no snotty comments, and you don’t even have to tip. It’s the wave of the future I tell you!"

Thank you so much, David - do come back!

([more] fotos by Jake Appelbaum)