The first robot for scrubbing dishes has gone on the market

It won’t be coming to your kitchen any time soon though (sorry.)

The news: A startup called Dishcraft has launched a new robotic dish-scrubber system. (Yes, it’s different to a dishwasher!) It’s a huge machine that can clean 100 or so plates per go, aimed at commercial kitchens.

How it works: It’s a little bit like a car wash, but for dishes. People stack bowls and plates into a cart, then wheel that into the machine. The robot picks them up and cleans and rinses them. It then uses computer vision to inspect them for any leftover food. If one is still dirty it gets put back through the system. Once washed, the machine stacks the dishes into racks. You can watch it in action here.

The appeal: Dishwashing is a dirty, repetitive job and that’s partly why turnover for staff is so high. Breakages are common, too.

Some limitations: The machine will be extremely expensive and can only handle specially made crockery with magnetic bases, which is another obvious issue. It can’t clean glassware or silverware, either.