Meep boop bleep — not to short circuit your brains, but robots have quietly invaded Seattle. With new types of androids seemingly rolling out every day, you may not have noticed that there are quite a few places in town where they’re doing everyday tasks like prepping food and cleaning up.
Some may be a little freaked out by an army of potential Evil Benders, but we (for one) welcome our new robot overlords. They represent our Seattle’s passion for innovation — and, frankly, we don’t want to make them mad.
Open the pod bay doors
Here’s just a small sample of how local robots are put to work.
Making pizza: Super-popular pizzeria MOTO is in such demand that the owner has employed a robot to help make pies and is also now considering automated bartenders + drone delivery.
Serving coffee: Pike Place Market’s Artly Coffee has robotic baristas that can pour a mean latte and even recommend drinks to customers.
Cleaning Sea-Tac Airport: The Port of Seattle has experimented with several automated machines — including one that sweeps floors, allowing human janitors to multitask more efficiently.
Being a hotel butler: South Lake Union’s Astra Hotel touts its bells + whistles like a lil’ robot named Sparky that delivers room service.
Handling packages: Amazon has deployed small blue robots in its Arlington warehouse that help warehouse workers lift and sort items in a safer way.
Humanoids are welcome, too
If all this bot talk gave you a jolt, get that resume prepped. Several top robotics companies in the Seattle area are hiring for projects that cover everything from agriculture tech to self-driving vehicles.
Those just looking for a casual hobby can also drop in on a meeting of the Seattle Robotics Society, which are always welcoming new tinkerers. Secret password? 000100101, we think.