Project Open Hand Adds 200 Meals an Hour With 2 AI Robots Amid Volunteer Shortage
Updated
Updated · WIRED · May 24
Project Open Hand Adds 200 Meals an Hour With 2 AI Robots Amid Volunteer Shortage
1 articles · Updated · WIRED · May 24
Summary
Two Chef Robotics arms now help Project Open Hand assemble about 200 extra medically tailored meals an hour in San Francisco, supplementing roughly 500 meals hourly filled by volunteers.
The nonprofit turned to automation because volunteer labor has thinned since the pandemic, especially from corporate groups that once helped staff its meal-kit lines.
The robots work only a few hours a day on plating tasks—scooping and portioning about 70 ingredients—while staff and volunteers shift to cooking, chopping and other less repetitive jobs.
Project Open Hand says the machines are rented by subscription and are not replacing volunteers; the group hopes the AI experiment will attract more support from the Bay Area tech sector.
Founded in 1985 during the AIDS crisis, the nonprofit now serves people with conditions including diabetes, heart disease and chronic kidney disease, making precise meal assembly a labor-intensive task.