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Robots to prepare meals in public schools
A cooking robot makes a noodle dish at COEX, Seoul, March 30. Yonhap
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to put cooking robots to use on a trial basis at public schools in the second half of this year, seeking to deal with a shortage of cafeteria workers, the institute and education authorities said, Tuesday.
The robots will fill 274 positions left vacant after many school cafeteria workers quit citing health issues brought on by labor-intensive catering and meal preparation work. Chief among health problems cited by the cafeteria workers are joint and muscle ailments caused by repetitive labor.
The education office will work together with Korea Robotics and the Korea Franchise Association to prepare cooking manuals. The robots will prepare stir-fried foods, soup or stew and deep-fried dishes.
“The work environment for school cafeteria workers will be enhanced, considerably aided by robots doing the physically demanding work,” the education office said.
A serving robot manufactured by KT. Courtesy of KT
The use of robots for work previously done by humans is becoming more frequent and commonplace now
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries revised marine pollution control standards to let robots clean up pollution in coastal areas to maintain a sustainable environment.
The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) estimated that the size of the industrial and services robot market will surpass $50 billion (66 trillion won) by 2025. The figure is up from $30 billion in 2021, a growth of 17 percent year-on-year.
Government-certified robots will soon be able to deliver food and parcels using sidewalks and enter public areas, enabled by a bill that was passed by the National Assembly in April. The robots will be mandatorily insured for possible damage to humans and property.
A growing number of strong local industry players continue to make hefty investments in robotics, seeking to use them to handle advanced manufacturing and broader people-facing services.