Covering Disruptive Technology Powering Business in The Digital Age

Writen by: Khairul haqeem, Journalist, AOPG.

Smart IoT startup Crown Digital intends to address major issues plaguing the Food and Beverage (F&B) sector, such as labour shortages. The firm is divided into three divisions: A software company that provides an end-to-end operating system and mobile app, a robotic automation company that has created a functioning unmanned retail hardware solution, and a coffee company that roasts and sells artisan coffee produced with quality Buscaglione beans from Italy.

Sylvain Barraud, Head of Technology and Engineering at Crown Digital has a rare combination of hardware and software experience, having served as Lead Product Management at Softbank Robotics, where he oversaw the technical expertise of widely deployed robotics platforms like Pepper the humanoid robot (more than 20,000 deployed and operated concurrently). Barraud has gained the foresight and understanding to plan ahead and address any challenges with scaling as a consequence of his previous work in this area. To make sure that the company’s three pillars (robotics, retail, and apps) can function together smoothly, especially at scale, he is responsible for leading the tech team and guiding other operational members of Crown Digital.

Recently, Crown Digital introduced Ella, Singapore’s first robot barista. Ella can make up to 200 cups of coffee each hour and has the potential to create over 300 different varieties. She has the help of an IoT app that accepts orders and payments through a mobile app and uses predictive analytics to determine what consumers will like most. It simplifies the ordering procedure and makes doing business with you a breeze. Without having to constantly educate new baristas, Ella has made it possible to guarantee a high-quality cup of coffee with minimal human intervention.

Beyond The Limits of Human

In spite of the fact that Ella cannot replace the human touch, she has several perks over a human barista. One example is that she can reliably produce 200 high-quality cups of coffee every hour. For even the most skilled human barista, this is an impossible goal to reach. Customers can receive their coffee brewed exactly how they like it with no conversation required thanks to Ella. Some consumers could appreciate this since it eliminates the need for small talk and creates a more streamlined experience.

Crown Digital has staff devoted to overseeing and maintaining Ella to ensure she reliably completes her responsibilities and never does anything unexpected. The team evaluates Ella’s effectiveness by using machine-learning techniques. To keep her in top shape, they do routine maintenance. This ensures that Ella’s coffee is always of the highest quality for her consumers. Barraud observes that Ella is similar to a kid in that she makes errors but that it is his job as her “father” to help her learn from them. They have “included many layers of safety precautions, including emergency shutdown procedures and regular maintenance inspections to guarantee that Ella functions safely and effectively at all times,” he adds, stressing the significance of consumer safety.

A Culinary Step Into The Future

Ella is a symbol of what the food and beverage business of the future may look like and the potential for robots to supplement and improve human talents. Of course, she cannot solve all of the industry’s problems on her own but she provides constant and efficient service. “ELLA is not here to replace human baristas,” says Barraud. “Rather, it is here to complement and enrich existing skillsets, and ultimately, to improve the consumer experience.” And the idea of a robot cooking my favourite gulai lemak cili api really seems not that far off.

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