Hungry? There’s a robot for that at TC Disrupt SF

Robotics has the potential to change the world. From jobs that are difficult or dangerous to do, to jobs that people simply don’t want to do, robotics will undoubtedly step in and fill these roles. Two such jobs are the cooking and delivery of some of our favorite comfort foods, burgers and pizzas.

Which is why we’re thrilled to announce that Miso Robotics and Zume will be joining us at Disrupt SF in September to chat about food tech. Tickets to Disrupt are available now.

Miso Robotics

Miso Robotics is the brains behind the operation, so to speak. The company helps program massive robotic arms inside kitchens to do almost any kind of prep or cooking task. To start, the company has partnered with CaliBurger to build Flippy, a robot that cooks and flips burgers, which is normally a job that involves plenty of grease burns and general discomfort.

While Flippy + CaliBurger is the company’s first installment, the potential for this type of programmed kitchen assistant is massive. There are plenty of jobs in a kitchen that are both tedious and dangerous, and Miso aims to fill that role. Interestingly, the company doesn’t actually produce and sell the robotics equipment itself, but rather the software that turns a regular old robotic arm into an instant chef.

Miso Robotics CEO and co-founder David Zito will be with us at TC Disrupt SF to talk about how Flippy’s been working out, what’s next for Miso and the future of food tech.

Zume Pizza

Zume, a company out of Mountain View, CA, is looking to innovate in the pizza space. The company has developed a series of robots that can both prep a pizza, spreading sauce, cheese and toppings evenly, and move that pizza into the oven. Unfortunately, that doesn’t solve the real problem. Artisan pizza waits for no man, and even the shortest delivery times can ruin a perfectly delicious pizza.

That’s why Zume is developing a pizza truck, complete with robots, that can actually cook pizzas as it drives around. The idea here is that the Zume truck can store prepped pizzas in the back and head off for a night of delivery, only cooking the pizza once the order is placed and the driver is on the way.

Zume will be giving us an exclusive look at the pizza truck a couple of weeks before the conference, but we want attendees to experience it live. On that note, we’re proud to announce that the Zume pizza truck will be on site at Disrupt SF to let you try a slice of pizza as you browse Startup Alley.

Plus, Zume co-founder and CEO Julia Collins will join Zito on our food tech panel to discuss pizzavation, robotics and food and the future of the food delivery industry.

We’ll have a special part of Startup Alley dedicated to robotics, as well as an “Off The Record” session on robotics that will be exclusively available to attendees of the conference.

Tickets to TechCrunch Disrupt SF, going down from September 18 to September 20, are available now. The speaker list is already impressive and is growing by the day, and we can’t wait to see you there!

Sidenote:

Meanwhile, you can check out some of the most exciting robots from around the world onstage next week at TC Sessions: Robotics in Boston. MIT’s CSAIL lab will be on hand, showcasing their latest work, including 3D-printed, folding and ingestible robots. Attendees will also have an opportunity to check out Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot (built in conjunction with MIT) in action, along with MIT’s running and jumping Cheetah robot and a wearable exoskeleton from Harvard.

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