Technology

Automatic robotic kitchen in Illinois requires no human employees

Photo: iStock

December 21, 2021

Nala Robotics, an Arlington Heights, Illinois-based technology firm, launched a fully automatic robotic kitchen last month in Naperville that can cook millions of recipes without any human intervention.

With the help of robots powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, Nala can master any dish in a matter of minutes, founder Ajay Sunkara said in a company press release. Its recipe catalog offers dishes from chefs and celebrities around the world, and users may also upload their recipes, which are coded and then replicated by Nala.

"Nala is the first AI and ML-powered multi-cuisine chef," Sunkara said. "Being AI-powered, the robotic chef gets better and better every single day. The more it cooks, the more it's going to learn and master these recipes. It is built to work 24/7; it doesn't need a break. It's easily scalable and trainable. It's a workhorse."

Nala's first restaurant, One Mean Chicken, serves wings and fried chicken in Naperville's Mall of India. In that same location, multiple restaurants will also open soon with the next being Nala's Thai 76 and Surya Tiffins, which features a South Indian breakfast menu. Sunkara plans to open 10 restaurant locations in 2022 and 100 by 2024. The company has also partnered with several celebrity chefs to operate their ghost kitchens powered by Nala.

"AI is going to create more quality jobs and entrepreneurs through Nala's Marketplace," Sunkara said. "Our Marketplace feature will help home chefs, food influencers, Michelin Stars Chefs and anyone with a good recipe to start their own ghost kitchen menu without having to spend thousands of dollars to build their restaurants. By simply coding their recipes into Nala's secure database, they can sell their dishes to customers at every Nala location."

Since Nala can work 24/7, the company will eventually create on-the-go prepackaged foods for grocery stores, restaurants and convenience stores. It also plans to offer meal plan subscriptions presenting freshly prepared dishes on demand and in special categories such as gluten-free, vegan and keto among others.

"Man's food journey started as a hunter and gatherer," Sunkara said. "Nala Robotics brings us the next evolution in our journey where robots cook and deliver food."

Although based in Arlington Heights, Illinois, Nala has planning and development offices in Fremont, California; Hyderabad, Noida and Bangalore, India, as well as Kiev, Ukraine.