Attendees at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) are wafting in the glorious smells of freshly baked bread created by Wilkinson Baking Company’s BreadBot. The autonomous bread-making device has been created to help out in supermarkets, convenience stores, schools, and the military. The robotic dough-machine works in a fury and can bake 10 loaves per hour, from flour to finish, according to New Atlas.
Wilkinson hopes to fill the gap from bread machines used in homes and mass-produced bread factories with this robotic, bread machine. BreadBot can bake up to 235 loaves of bread per day, and doesn’t focus on just one type of bread but an array of types, including white, wheat, whole wheat, nine grain, sourdough, organic, and honey oat.
Wilkinson claims that the BreadBot is environmentally friendly, and could potentially improve profit margins for shops by getting rid of transportation lines and eliminating the need for baking staff. The bot is 305 by 135 cm. and was created to be compact so it can fit in grocery stores. Additionally, observers can watch their bread being made to assure them of their bread’s quality.
The process starts by loading the BreadBot with dry ingredients into a hopper. Then, the device utilizes an app where the user sets the water temp., mixer speed, proofer humidity, loaf height, and start and stop times throughout the day. The bot can be pre-programmed up to three months in advance so fresh, hot bread is available at all times rather than just a couple times throughout the day.
Instead of baking bread in the early hours of the morning, the BreadBot can start three hours before opening, which allows for pre-warming and can run up to 24 hours using self-monitoring sensors. A human employee is only required for mixing ingredients and slicing the loaves with a bread slicer.
Also, forget clean up. This bot is, for the most part, self-cleaning and only requires a manual wipe-down. It will also alert staff when it needs extra attention, such as removing finished loaves from the oven or refilling an ingredient.
“Bread is a staple of American life. But in most supermarkets today, it has lost its emotional connection with the shopper,” says Randall Wilkinson, CEO of The Wilkinson Baking Company. “In the age of home delivery, The BreadBot attracts consumers back to the store because it delivers fresh, delicious bread that is produced with theater and engagement. We’re so excited to bring CES back to basics with the BreadBot this year and to demonstrate how we have increased retailers’ bread sales by more than 30 percent while also decreasing the environmental impact.”
Watch the BreadBot in action with Engadget’s up-close video.