ROBOT OF THE WEEK: THE DONER KEBAB SLICER
by Hazed
It’s the standard fare for post-pub noshing – at least it is in the UK. The doner kebab, that enormous mass of amorphous meat which rotates on a spit, can be found in just about every highstreet in the land. Affectionately known as an elephant leg, slices of the meat are stuffed into a pitta bread along with salad and an incendiary chilli sauce.
Traditionally, a man with a massive knife slices the meat off the rotating skewer. But now that job may be a risk because of a robot.
The Atalay doner robot uses sensors to glide up and down the meat tower and slice off perfect slices.
It has been installed into a kebab shop in north London, having been shipped over from Turkey. The robot cost around £5,000 and the owner/manager of the shop, Hakan Gorenli, is delighted with his investment.
He said, “I like it and am very happy with it.” He explained that “carving doner meat is a difficult task, both hot and tiring” – his shop, the Super Kebab takeaway, serves something like 1,000 kebabs on a typical weekend.
The customers don’t seem phased by having a robot slicing up their meat: Gorenli says, “99% of my customers are happy with the robot. They like that it cuts precisely and hygienically.”
Of course the owner of the kebab shop is happy – the robot doesn’t need to be paid, it doesn’t demand holidays and it never calls in sick.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/global/shortcuts/2015/aug/16/doner-kebab-robot-invade-high-streets