Such is possibly the thinking behind one of the newest mechanical man, "Carl.” This humanoid robot, designed by the German mechatronics engineer Ben Shaefer, is especially skilled in the art of mixology. It can hustle a highball and mix a martini like nobody's (nobotty's?) business. The bow-tied bot is trained in serving customers at the Robots Bar and Lounge, a tech-friendly hangout in IImenau, eastern Germany, DailyMail UK reports.
Built from disused industrial robots from the German company KUKA, Carl is a marvel of hand-me-down and goes to show that one man's trash is another's bartender. Carl, who presumably makes no wages, lends a virtually human hand to its colleagues by pouring out measures of spirits for cocktails.
But part of being a good bartender is in making conversation, and Carl can do that, too. The DailyMail reports that the robot can carry on brief conversations with customers. The robot's speech recognition and interaction capabilities are still "limited," but that probably just makes him a better listener.
Carl is still in a "test-dummy" stage, suggesting that he's in the process of becoming an even better humanoid robot, and still getting adjusted to "real-life scenarios." No one is complaining though, and it sounds like he's fairly busy delighting tourists who line up to meet him.
Shaefer, Carl's inventor, has been working in the robotics field for 23 years, so Carl just may be old enough to have a drink himself.
