Beijing restaurateur develops noodle-slicing robot army

Vocabulary Words

1. Automated - (adj.)- operated and controlled by machine
ex. She withdrew cash from the automated teller's machine.
2. Restaurateur - (noun)-The manager or owner of a restaurant
ex. He is a very successful restaurateur. He owns the biggest chain of restaurants in the country.
3. Laborious - (adj.)- something that requires long, hard work; involving great exertion or long effort
ex. The team spent many laborious hours on the project.
4. Prototype -(noun)- An original, full-scale, and usually working model of a new product or new version of an existing product.
ex. A prototype children's laptop, was showcased at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
5. Motion-sensored -(adj)- An equipment which detects,record movements of objects, people or animals
ex. The alarm system in our office is motion-sensored

In yet another sign that the restaurant business in Asia is becoming increasingly automated, a Chinese restaurateur is enjoying booming success after having created an army of robots that can ‘hand' slice noodles.

Using the motion of a windshield wiper, the Chef Cui shaves noodles from a block of dough in perfect strips, sparing many a Chinese chef the laborious, repetitive and often dreaded task of slicing noodles by hand.

While restaurateur Cui Runguan in Beijing first created the prototype in 2006, since going into production and launching the first commercial robo-chefs in March, creator Cui Runguan has sold 3,000 robots, according to a video report by Zoomin.TV in the UK.

The appeal? At about $2,000 USD, the Chef Cui is a bargain deal, say restaurateurs interviewed in the video: not only does a human chef cost about $4,700 USD a year, the robot chef doesn't call in sick or get tired.

The Chef Cui is the latest robo-chef to hit the Asian restaurant scene, which is light years ahead of the West in automated dining.

Fast food restaurant Wishdoing in Shanghai, became the first in the country to hire two robo-chefs to do all the cooking and washing up. Automated chefs can whip up dishes like Kung Pao Chicken or Mapo Tofu, bean curd in a chili sauce, in three minutes flat.
Motion-sensored robot waiters also cycle around the Dalu Robot restaurant in the eastern province of Shandong, China, while Japanese eatery FuA-Men -- short for Fully-Automated raMen -- uses robot chefs to make bowls of ramen.

SOURCE: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/beijing-restaurateur-develops-noodle-slicing-robot-army-162426334.html

Questions:

1. What is the Article all about?
2. What comes to your mind when you hear the words Robots/machines?
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using robots in the preparation of food/s for restaurant customers?
4. Would you prefer a robot to take your orders,serve and prepare your food or would you rather have a real person to do these things?
5. Would you like a robot at home to do household chores for you?