A locally built robot waitress named Robia serves diners at a Karachi restaurant, first reported by Techxplore. Robotic staff remain rare in Pakistan, and the novelty has drawn families to The Sicilian, while customers still must take food from serving trays themselves or wait for a human staff member to assist.
Robia and her colleague Jojo are DIY creations of Pakistani engineer Syed Osama Aziz, who also established The Sicilian. Aziz developed the pair through his robotics company, Cobot, with help from friends.
The machines were made in Aziz’s workshop in Multan, in central Punjab, using mostly locally manufactured parts. He designed their circuit boards and programmed them in his own lab.
The build pairs mostly locally manufactured parts with some imported electronic components; Aziz also said equipment needed to make robots is not easily available in Pakistan.
Robia introduces herself in an electronic voice. Customer Ahmer Zameer said a robot also tells diners what they can order. Children reach out to touch the robots while parents take photographs and selfies.
Restaurant staff say the novelty has brought a surge in customers, some traveling from across Karachi to see the robots. Staff member Hellen said business had grown.
Aziz hopes to add camera-based processing and image-processing features. He said those additions would let a robot recognize people by looking at them, remember what they ordered last time and offer better suggestions.