Back in 2020, Miso Robotics teamed up with White Castle to pilot a kitchen robot that can cook sliders called Flippy in select locations. Now, thanks to data and employee feedback gathered from the pilot, Miso was able to create a new version of the machine called Flippy 2, which works faster and doesn't need human intervention. Apparently, one of the main things Miso learned from the pilot was that human assistance was still needed on both sides during operation. Since basket management wasn't automated, human employees would still need to help load the uncooked product and unload the cooked food in the holding area. Miso has designed an "AutoBin" system for the Flippy 2 that solves that problem, specifically for lower volume and specialty foods like onion rings and chicken tenders.

White Castle has plans to usher robots into the kitchen. The burger chain announced a partnership with the artificial intelligence firm Miso Robotics on Monday. The idea is to reduce human contact with food during the cooking process and comes after many restaurants were crippled due to the pandemic, White Castle said in a statement. "The deployment will put autonomous frying to work for enhanced production speeds, improved labor allocation and an added layer of health and safety in the cooking process," the burger chain said. The restaurant didn't address how many workers could be displaced by robots.