Technology

KFC China deploys autonomous rolling chicken-dispensing 'pods'

KFC sign in Harbin, China. (iStock)

November 25, 2020

KFC China has deployed autonomous chicken-dispensing robots around Shanghai, according to CNET. The machines that look like miniaturized minivans with side windows revealing packaged fried chicken have been referred to as everything from rolling vending machines to autonomous restaurants on wheels.

A Twitter user outside of Shanghai captured images of the KFC China chicken carts where customers place orders on a touchscreen, pay via a QR code scanned on their phones and then retrieve their choices from a tiny side window.

The Drive website said the car-o-chicken was created by Beijing-based, Neolix, whose autonomous food pods can circulate on city streets bringing chicken to the masses as they pass. The vehicles use 5G cellular broadband connections and can travel 62 miles on a charge at speeds as high as 31 miles per hour. Rather than recharging the pods, their batteries are just swapped out in less than a minute and they're back on the road hawking fried birds.

QSRweb is awaiting further details about the pods, but had not received a response from KFC at the time of this writing. KFC is China's biggest fast-food chain.