The seed of an idea to create AutoKitch came to me almost 20 years ago.
The first attempt at an automated cooking process was to create a hamburger making machine. I started work on it with a colleague in our garage. This was a time when it was e-commerce was just spreading its wings and getting parts to create an operating prototype not only cost an arm and a leg but it was really tough to get the right parts and the electronics components were abortively expensive. But still we made an effort with a conveyor belt model and gears. The project itself was abandoned because of budget constraints.
The passion to create a machine that truly cooked for you stayed with me and in 2014, I took a new approach to it. With online websites that offered all kinds of parts, 3-D printing and PCBs available to us at an affordable cost, I started designing an ambitious, all-in-one kitchen that replaced the Kitchen as a unit and included a refrigerator component and large storage component for ingredients.
I started building a full size prototype that used Arduino programming to mechanize the various components. This was taking a lot of effort and time and more robots that prepared food were coming up in the market.
Time was of the essence and with some advice from relatives and friends, I decided to instead focus on a MVP (Minimal Viable Product). I built a team of professionals and we worked on producing a counter-top version of AutoKitch.
The first viable version of this MVP is now in the final stages of assembly and will be progressing into Alpha and Beta testing within the next couple of months.
Stay tuned for more updates on when the product is going to hit stores!