Add Jack in the Box to the list of fast food chains experimenting with robots. The company is launching a pilot program that will test Miso Robotics' Flippy 2 (frying) and Sippy (drink-prepping) robots in a San Diego restaurant. Jack in the Box wants to see how much help the automatons can offer to busy staff who may want to spend more time with customers and less time in the kitchen. The companies didn't say how long the pilot might last. Jack in the Box said it was open to "further integration" in coming months, however.

You can count burger-flipping robots as one pandemic innovation that's here to stay. White Castle announced today that it will be bringing Flippy 2, a robot chef that can essentially perform the same tasks as a team of fry cooks, to 100 more locations this year. This amounts to roughly a third of White Castle restaurants nationwide, so it's likely Flippy may become a permanent addition to this burger chain's workforce. Last fall the burger chain first teamed up with Miso Robotics, the makers of Flippy, to launch a pilot program in its Chicagoland location. The company then unveiled Flippy 2, the latest iteration of the chef robot, back in November.

The debate about whether cooking is more art or science is a never-ending one. But at Spyce, the latest culinary experiment in automation, that debate feels pretty well settled. Started by a group of 20-something robotics engineers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology who partnered with Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud, the new restaurant in downtown Boston is founded on the idea that a fulfilling meal can be more science than spontaneity. The restaurant's founders have replaced human chefs with seven automated cooking pots that simultaneously whip up meals in three minutes or less. A brief description of meal preparation - courtesy of 26-year-old co-founder, Michael Farid - can sound more like laboratory instructions than conventional cooking.

At CaliBurger in Pasadena, Calif., the plug has been temporarily pulled on Flippy, a robot that can grill as many as 2,000 burgers a day.

At CaliBurger in Pasadena, Calif., the plug has been temporarily pulled on Flippy, a robot that can grill as many as 2,000 burgers a day.

It looks like robots won't be cooking our hamburgers anytime soon. Flippy the burger-flipping robot has been fired from a CaliBurger restaurant in Pasadena after just one day on the job. The robot attracted so much national interest that the CaliBurger was forced to take Flippy offline, as it was too slow to keep up with the crowds. Now, a sign at the restaurant reads that Flippy will be'cooking soon' and that his return date is'TBA,' according to USA Today. The artificial intelligence-driven robot is said to'cook the perfect burger, every time.' Called Flippy, the machine is fitted with a 6-axis robotic arm, which it uses to flip burgers.

Flippy needs a break after all. After gaining significant attention this week for being a burger-flipping robot that might replace humans some day, the robot has been forced to take a break because it has been deemed too slow, the BBC reports. The attention Flippy received this week by multiple media reports led to more orders than the robot could handle, impacting its efficiency. Installed at a CaliBurger in Pasadena, Calif., the robot, made by Miso Robotics, needs an upgrade to cook in a quicker manner. In a statement obtained by the BBC, Miso Robotics said it was testing Flippy's code that controls its ability to cook faster. USA Today reported that even though the robot was still manning (or is it roboting?)

A burger-flipping robot that doesn't require a paycheck or benefits -- and can grill 150 burgers per hour -- is now a cook at CaliBurger. The robot, or more specifically, a specialized industrial six-axis robotic arm bolted to the kitchen floor, works lunchtime shifts at the international burger chain's Pasadena, Calif., location. It takes burger orders through a digital ticketing system, then flips the burger patties and removes them from the grill. It uses thermal and regular vision, as well as cameras, to detect when the raw meat is placed on the grill, then monitors each burger throughout its cooking process. But those worried about a robot takeover of food-industry jobs can find comfort in knowing that Flippy still needs a human guide to place the patties on the grill.

"Flippy," a burger-grilling robot developed by Miso Robotics, is now operating at a Caliburger in Pasadena. After months of practice in the art of fast food preparation, "Flippy," has finally taken up a position as grill cook on the line at Caliburger's Pasadena, Calif., restaurant. "It's not a fun job -- it's hot, it's greasy, it's dirty," acknowledges John Miller, the CEO of Cali Group, which runs the international fast food chain. Even so, it could be the beginning of a bright career for Flippy in an industry that is otherwise notorious for high employee turnover. It certainly helps that Flippy, a burger-flipping robot developed by Miso Robotics, shows no concern about the low wages, meager benefits or long hours that plague the industry.

Flippy, the artificial intelligence-driven robot that can'cook the perfect burger every time,' has now replaced human workers in a CaliBurger restaurant in Pasedena. The California chain began testing the machine, which is fitted with a 6-axis robotic arm equipped with a spatula, earlier this year. Flippy uses its arm to flip burgers and place them on buns and could spell the beginning of the end for fast food chefs. Flippy, the artificial intelligence-driven robot that can'cook the perfect burger every time,' has now replaced human workers at a CaliBurger in Pasedena. Flippy is an artificial intelligence-driven robot that can flip burgers on a grill and then place them on a bung once they are done cooking.