Robot Waiter Starts Serving Lunch at a Russian School

A school in Yakutsk has hired the city’s first robot waiter. The robot helps students on cafeteria duty by carrying food trays to serving areas.

According to Maria Petrova, head of Yakutsk’s Department of Education, the BellaBot robot can motivate students to take an interest in technology. For now, the robot has been brought in on a trial basis. If the pilot proves successful, similar smart machines could be deployed in other large schools across the city.

A School of the Future

As explained by Varvara Kychkina, director of the Center for Education Development, the robot is equipped with navigation systems and obstacle-detection sensors, allowing it to independently plan routes through a busy cafeteria based on a digital map of the space.

The robot can maneuver around obstacles, carry multiple trays at once, and even issue verbal warnings such as “Caution, hot!”