Meal prep just got considerably easier thanks to a robotic kitchen assistant that will cook 5,000 different recipes from scratch -- and even do the dishes afterwards. Developed by UK-based Moley Robotics, the cooking automaton has two dextrous hands and was modelled to mimic the 2011 MasterChef winner, Tim Anderson. The'Automated Kitchen' can gather ingredients from a smart fridge, fill pans, mix, pour, adjust hob temperatures and serve up -- just like a regular cook would. Unlike a human, however, it will never complain about having to do the washing up. The Automated Kitchen is the product of a collaboration of around one hundred engineers and designers -- along with three award-winning chefs -- and took six years to be fully realised and market-ready.

The world's first Automated Kitchen was unveiled at Hanover Messe 2015, the premier industrial robotics show. Created by Moley Robotics, the system features a dexterous robot integrated into a kitchen that cooks with the skill and flair of a master chef. The company's goal is to produce a consumer version within two years, supported by an iTunes' style library of recipes that can be downloaded and created by the kitchen. The prototype in action at the show (Hall 17 Stand E84) is the product of two years development and the collaboration of an international team including Sebastian Conran who designed the cooking utensils and Mauro Izzo, DYSEGNO and the Yachtline company, who created the futuristic Kitchen furniture. Two highly complex, fully articulated hands, made by the Shadow Robot Company, comprise the kitchen's key enabling technology.