VU’s aspiring chefs serve up defeat to robot in kitchen clash

It was a sandwich showdown with all the excitement of a MasterChef final – complete with a VIP guest.

But instead of a celebrity chef, a humanoid robot named Jetson joined a group of Victoria University (VU) hospitality students this week in a battle for kitchen honours.

Nerves ran high as Cert III Commercial Cookery students faced off with the unlikely competitor in front of a panel of judges from VU and Brimbank Tech School.

The inaugural Sandwich Bytes event at the Footscray Nicholson campus marked the official debut of Jetson, a Unitree G1 EDU humanoid robot and the latest member of the Brimbank team.

Kitted out in a personalised chef’s hat and jacket the 1.3m tall, 35kg machine – and his student opponents – received a rock star welcome from an audience of students, media and staff. 

But VU’s budding chefs were relieved to discover he won’t be making a meal of their careers any time soon.

Student Jorja Coote said they were a “bit worried that we might lose to a robot, but we were pretty safe.”

“It was fun to see a robot try to make a sandwich,” she said. 

“I think he might be good for little things like preparation, but I don't think he will be good enough to take over chef or hospitality worker jobs. We are more reliable… at least for the time being.” 

The six student competitors plus Jetson were given 10 minutes in two rounds to craft signature sandwiches in the high-energy competition, and judged on skills including creativity, presentation and flavour. 

Jetson is equipped with advanced, dexterous hand attachments which can be programmed to perform tasks such as removing bottle tops and crushing nuts. 

But at Tuesday’s event, he still needed a hand from a human to grab ingredients, and assemble his salami and salad sandwich.

Students Hugo Garrett and Henry Deller were crowned kings of the sandwich and presented with gold, melted cheese-sandwich trophies. 

Hugo said he was delighted by the win, and felt robots were no match for a chef’s creativity and sharp sense of taste: “I don't think he'll ever come close to what a human can do.” 

Director of Brimbank Tech School Stephen Manitta, said the event was designed to showcase that the future of industries such as hospitality is human, supported by technology.

“The students did an amazing job, but Jetson, not so much. His sandwich was a bit of a mess,” he said.

“He’s only two weeks old so he’s still an infant really. The idea was to demonstrate that robotics looks cool and we've come a long way, but there's still a very, very long way to go. Coding and programming him is really challenging. When you see humanoid robots dancing and doing martial arts on TV and on YouTube, that’s taken four people with PhDs and hundreds of hours.” 

So far, Brimbank’s Head of Programs Michelle Magalona has spent about 80 hours programming Jetson in basic movements such as walking, standing and waving.

Professor Naomi Dale, Director of VU’s School for the Visitor Economy, said it was important for students to see that humans will remain at the heart of hospitality, innovation, and customer experiences.

“The technology needs to be there, but it's about augmenting and adding to the human skills, rather than taking away from them,” she said. 

“What our students were able to do was create something really special, based on their experience and knowledge. Creativity and flexibility are vital.” 

Sandwich Bytes was the brainchild of Daniel Mariner, Operations and Partnerships Manager at Brimbank Tech School, which opens later this year at VU’s Sunshine campus. Funded by the Victorian Government, it will connect high school students to the future of work with hands-on experiences solving industry problems. 

Mr Manitta said integrating Jetson into the classroom will help prepare students for workplaces that are increasingly embracing technologies such as robotics. 

Secondary students will learn how humanoid robots ‘see’, collect information and make decisions, and explore how they are used in areas like manufacturing, health and the environment.