Karachi restaurant uses locally built robot waitresses Robia and Jojo
A Pakistani engineer has built two robot waitresses that serve diners at The Sicilian restaurant in Karachi. Staff say the robots have brought more customers to the restaurant.
- Robots Robia and Jojo serve food at The Sicilian in Karachi
- Engineer Syed Osama Aziz built them through his company Cobot
- Parts are mostly made locally, with some electronics imported
- Aziz plans camera-based features to recognise returning customers
Two robot waitresses, Robia and Jojo, are serving customers at The Sicilian restaurant in Karachi. They were built by Pakistani engineer Syed Osama Aziz, who also established the restaurant, according to The Express Tribune and TechJuice.
Aziz developed the robots through his robotics company, Cobot. They were made mostly from locally manufactured parts, while some electronic components were imported from abroad. He designed the circuit boards and programmed the robots in his own lab, and TechJuice reported that friends helped him. The workshop that manufactures the robots is in Multan.
Aziz said the materials were hard to find in Pakistan. "The equipment, the things needed to make robots, are not so easily available here, so we had to arrange them," he said.
The robots have spherical white heads with dark visors and wear black shawls styled like a dupatta. According to TechJuice, Robia greets diners, introduces herself, tells them what they can order and then delivers food on a serving tray. Customers must take the food off the tray themselves or wait for a staff member to help.
Restaurant staff say the robots have increased the number of customers, and some people travel across the city to see them. Families are the main draw, with children touching the robots while parents take photographs and selfies. Staff member Hellen said: "They have seen a robot for the first time here."
Robotic staff are increasingly common in China and other East Asian countries but remain a novelty in Pakistan, the reports said.
Aziz plans to upgrade the robots. "Our plans are to add camera-based processing and image-processing features," he said. The reports say this would let the robots recognise returning customers, remember earlier orders and suggest items based on them.
Why it matters
The project shows a Pakistani engineer building working robots largely with local parts and his own design and programming. For Karachi diners, especially families, it offers a new experience at a restaurant. It also shows that sourcing robotics equipment in Pakistan remains difficult, as Aziz said.
