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Japan’s cat robot waiter now available to build at home with blocks

Oona McGee Jul 23, 2023
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Eat your heart out, Lego!

Ever since the start of the pandemic, companies in Japan have been ramping up efforts to provide contactless services for customers. For restaurant operator Skylark, that meant rolling out a fleet of robot waiters, and by December 2022, they had 3,000 of them working in 2,100 branches across their Gusto, Syabu-yo, Bamiyan, and Jonathan restaurants.

▼ Called “Bellabot“, these robot waiters look like cats, smoothly delivering meals from the kitchen to the customer’s table.

Image: PR Times

These adorable robot waiters have been welcomed into the hearts of customers across the nation, with people falling in love with their cute look. They’ve become so popular that Skylark has now introduced a miniature version of the Bellabot for customers to construct at home, with Lego-like blocks, and as soon as our reporter Seiji Nakazawa heard about it, he immediately set out to buy one, stopping by a branch of Jonathon that was said to sell them.

▼ Jonathan

Sure enough, there, at the counter amongst all the children’s toys and treats commonly found at Skylark restaurants, was a sign advertising the mini robot, which retails for 1,700 yen (US$11.99).

▼ The mini Bellabot comes with stickers that replicate the robot’s various expressions.

After enjoying a meal and paying for it at the counter, Seiji was able to purchase the little Bellabot, and he eagerly raced home so he could open it up and put it together. The 117-piece kit is said to be suitable for ages 6 and up, and when it’s complete it stands at around 14 centimetres (5.5 inches) in height.

Opening the box, Seiji unleashed all the blocks, arranging them into two piles, with the larger blocks on the right and the smaller ones on the left.

Thankfully, the pack came with instructions on how to put the 117 blocks together, making it seem like less of a daunting task.

The first step towards building his own Bellabot involved assembling the base plate, and once that was done, Seiji moved on to building the first of four levels on which the food would be placed.

It’d been years since Seiji had played with blocks, and he found himself really getting into the process, concentrating hard to ensure no mistakes were made.

It didn’t take long for Seiji to use up all the blocks, and in the end he didn’t even have to consult the instruction manual much either, as the building process was pretty intuitive.

▼ When he placed the final block on the model, he felt a sense of elation and achievement as his Bellabot came to life!

▼ Not only did it look cute, it looked friendly as well!

The tires on the base made it slide around the table so easily that Seiji began to suspect Bellabot had developed its own consciousness.

▼ Wheee!

▼ Bellabot, you are just too cute!

Seiji’s inner child thanked his adult self for indulging him with such a cute companion, and yours will too, so be sure to keep an eye out for the Bellabot at a Skylark restaurant near you!

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[ Read in Japanese ]