Silicon Valley Newest Fast Food Robot: BurgerBots Make Burgers in 27 Seconds Flat

Updated: May 06 2025 07:28

AI Summary: At the Breaking Dawn/First Born restaurant in Los Gatos, California, ABB Robotics and startup BurgerBots have partnered to automate burger assembly using precise industrial robots. This system, utilizing ABB's FlexPicker and YuMi robots, builds a burger in just 27 seconds, ensuring high consistency, speed, and hygiene. Beyond novelty, the technology addresses the restaurant industry's significant labor challenges by automating repetitive tasks, allowing human staff to focus on customer experience and potentially marking a crucial step towards widespread automation in quick-service food.

In a small but chic restaurant in downtown Los Gatos, California, the future of fast food is taking shape—not in the form of a new superfood or plant-based alternative, but in the mechanical arms of highly precise robots. ABB Robotics and startup BurgerBots have joined forces to create what might be the most consistent burger you'll ever taste, and they're doing it in record time.



When you walk into the Breaking Dawn/First Born restaurant in Los Gatos, you'll notice something different about the kitchen. Inside a compact, self-contained cell, two robots—ABB's IRB 360 FlexPicker and the collaborative YuMi robot—work in perfect harmony to assemble burgers with surgical precision.


The system works like this: after a patty is cooked, it's placed on a bun inside a burger box and positioned on a conveyor shuttle. Each shuttle carries a QR code containing the order's specifications. As the box moves along the conveyor, the FlexPicker—a robot commonly used in manufacturing for its speed and accuracy—selects and places toppings with hygienic precision. The YuMi robot then steps in for the final assembly. The entire process? Just 27 seconds per burger.

But these robots aren't just fast; they're smart too. The system tracks inventory in real-time, monitoring stock levels of ingredients like onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and condiments, ensuring the kitchen never runs out of essentials during a busy service.


Anyone familiar with the restaurant industry knows that staffing is one of its greatest challenges. With the National Restaurant Association reporting that three out of four employees leave their roles within a year, restaurant owners are constantly battling high turnover rates and rising labor costs.


Elizabeth Truong, the entrepreneur behind BurgerBots, sees automation as more than just a novelty. "The vision was to bring consistency, transparency, and efficiency to food service," she explains. "For restaurant owners, it means better visibility of food costs, more accurate forecasting and—ultimately—better decision making."

Rather than replacing human workers entirely, the BurgerBots system aims to transform the nature of restaurant work. By automating repetitive, time-consuming tasks, staff can focus on enhancing the customer experience—the part of the job that robots can't replicate.

A recent survey commissioned by ABB Robotics found this approach resonates with industry workers:

• 67% of hospitality workers agreed that robotics should reduce dull, dirty, and dangerous work
• 63% found the idea of robots making their job easier exciting
• 65% would welcome robots if they created a safer work environment

What makes the BurgerBots system particularly interesting is how it adapts industrial technology for food service. ABB's robots weren't originally designed for burger assembly—they were built for manufacturing environments where precision, speed, and reliability are paramount.


"Integrating ABB robots with the BurgerBots restaurant concept demonstrates the incredible potential for automation beyond the factory floor," says Marc Segura, President of ABB Robotics Division. "The food service industry is dynamic and demanding, and our technology brings industrial-grade consistency, efficiency and reliability to this space."

The FlexPicker robot, for instance, is commonly used in packaging applications where items need to be picked and placed at high speed. In the BurgerBots system, this same technology ensures that each topping is placed precisely where it needs to be, creating a consistent product every time.


BurgerBots isn't ABB's only venture into food service. The company has collaborated with RoboEatz on ARK, an autonomous kitchen capable of preparing hundreds of meals with minimal human intervention. They're also powering Makr Shakr's robotic bartenders, which will soon be mixing drinks in venues worldwide.


Truong believes we're only seeing the beginning of a major shift in the restaurant industry. "In the next five years, I believe that most restaurants will have some form of robotic automation, whether it's back-of-house preparation, assembly, or even front-of-house service," she predicts. "It will become less of a novelty and more of a necessity."

The implications extend beyond just burgers. The same principles—precision, consistency, inventory management, and labor optimization—could be applied to virtually any quick-service food concept.


For diners, the promise of robot-made food is multifaceted:

• Consistency: Every burger comes out exactly as ordered, with precise amounts of each ingredient
• Speed: 27 seconds per burger means less waiting, even during peak hours
• Hygiene: Robots don't sneeze, forget to wash their hands, or cross-contaminate ingredients
• Customization: Digital ordering systems connected to robotic preparation allow for precise customization

However, some questions remain. Will customers embrace robot-made food, or will they miss the human touch? Can robots adapt to the creative aspects of cooking, or will they be limited to standardized recipes? And how will the economics play out as these systems scale?


While ABB and BurgerBots haven't disclosed the cost of their system, automated kitchen solutions typically require significant upfront investment. The appeal comes from long-term savings: robots don't call in sick, don't receive benefits, and can work continuously without breaks.


For restaurant owners, the equation isn't just about labor costs. It's also about consistency (reducing food waste), inventory management (reducing overstocking), and operational reliability (reducing downtime). In an industry where margins are notoriously thin, these advantages could make the difference between success and failure.

Despite the futuristic technology, humans remain essential to the BurgerBots concept. The system still relies on human workers to cook the patties, initiate the assembly process, and manage the overall operation. More importantly, humans handle the front-of-house experience—greeting customers, taking orders, and creating the atmosphere that keeps people coming back.

This hybrid model might represent the sweet spot for food service automation: robots handling repetitive, precision tasks while humans focus on creativity and customer connection.

What happens when robots leave the factory and enter the kitchen?

In a food automation industry first, check out our Yumi® cobot and IRB 360 FlexPicker® working together to assemble burgers to order at BurgerBots, Los Gatos California.https://t.co/Y8IAl1slF0 pic.twitter.com/8VZEqf7Ey0

— ABB (@ABBgroupnews) April 29, 2025

As the first BurgerBots installation proves successful at Breaking Dawn/First Born in Los Gatos, expansion seems inevitable. Truong clearly sees the Los Gatos location as just the beginning of a broader rollout.

The technology could evolve in several directions:

1. More food types: Beyond burgers to other standardized food items
2. Smaller footprints: More compact systems for space-constrained restaurants
3. Greater autonomy: Systems that require even less human intervention
4. Front-of-house applications: Robots that interact directly with customers

For an industry plagued by labor challenges, thin margins, and consistency issues, robot chefs might be exactly what's needed. The question isn't whether robots will enter our kitchens, but how quickly they'll become as common as the microwave or deep fryer.