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Robotic coffee kiosk using Mitsubishi 6-axis arm opens in San Francisco

January 31, 2017

Cafe X, a robotic coffee kiosk, has opened for business in San Francisco’s Metreon mall, according to The Wall Street Journal. Customers can tap their desired beverage, flavor and artisanal bean on a phone or kiosk screen, which beams the order to the robot. The robot uses a Mitsubishi six-axis arm to grab a cup, pump in some syrup and pop it in front of one of its coffee-brewing cores, which grind beans and foam milk into an espresso confection.

In 22 to 55 seconds, depending on the order, the arm lowers the cup on a hydraulic pedestal.

The robotic cafe will serve only espresso drinks, and the prices are reasonable compared to other artisanal cafes: espresso costs $2.25 and an 8-ounce latte costs $2.95. The beans come from local Californian coffee roasters AKA Coffee, Verve Coffee Roasters and Peet’s Coffee, according to Forbes. 

The San Francisco-based startup Cafe X is run by Henry Hu, a Thiel Fellow (which pays budding entrepreneurs to drop out of college). Hu is a 23 year-old dropout of Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Cafe X launched first in Hong Kong and raised $5 million in venture funding. In addition to malls and airports, the company is targeting corporate and college campuses.