Futuristic high-tech coffee service brews up a storm in Edinburgh café amid world first status

University of Edinburgh researchers have unveiled the world's first AI-powered robot barista that makes cups of coffee. The robot uses a combination of AI, sensors, and fine-tuned motor skills to make a brew.

Designers say it allows the robot to interact with its surroundings in more human-like ways than ever before.

Researchers at University of Edinburgh unveil the world's first AI-powered robot arm capable of making coffee. | University of Edinburgh / SWNS

The AI robot first interprets verbal instructions it receives, then analyses its surroundings.

Next, it searches the kitchen to find a mug by working out how to access drawers with opening mechanisms it has never encountered before. The robot then measures and mixes a set ratio of ground coffee from a jar with water from a kettle.

Experts say robots are adept at working in tightly controlled settings such as factories and production lines, but struggle in dynamic, unpredictable places like kitchens.

This is because robots have traditionally relied on pre-programmed actions and responses, and lack the ability to adapt to unforeseen obstacles in real-time, the researchers say.

Nature Machine Intelligence research project

Now, the Edinburgh team has combined advances in sensitive motor skills and AI to create a robot that can interact skilfully with objects and people in challenging settings.

The research, published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence, was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The work was led by Ruaridh Mon-Williams, a PhD student jointly at the University of Edinburgh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton University.

‘Glimpse of the future’

Ruaridh Mon-Williams, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics, said: “We are glimpsing a future where robots with increasingly advanced intelligence become commonplace.

“Human intelligence stems from the integration of reasoning, movement and perception, yet AI and robotics have often advanced separately. Our work demonstrates the power of combining these approaches and underscores the growing need to discuss their societal implications.”