Team Collaborative Deliciousness, led by Dr. Yue Hu and composed of team members Jeffery Lee (MASc in progress, mechatronics) and Cheng Tang, an undergraduate student in computer engineering, was selected as one of three finalists in the prestigious international competition for the KUKA Innovation Award at Hannover Messe, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs. This year's theme was "Robots for the People."
KUKA is a leader in robot-based automation and regularly partners with universities, startups, and institutions worldwide. The organization launched the award in 2014 to accelerate the pace of innovation in the field of robotic automation and improve technology transfer. The organization has an international panel of experts to judge submissions from institutions all over the world, and the winning team receives €20,000 ($29,530 CAD).
The team created the IISYest Baker, a robotic solution that revolutionizes craft bakeries by enabling human-robot interaction to create artisanal-grade pastries with the same precision as traditional techniques to ensure precision and efficiency in every pastry it produces. With an intuitive user interface, bakers can use it to replace thousands of repetitive tasks to reduce labour costs, provide scalability, and ensure that product quality remains consistent.
Get a closer look of the IISYest Baker
This milestone represents the first time that the University of Waterloo has been selected as a finalist in this prestigious competition. It's a testament to the team's exceptional innovation and the global recognition of their work, a feat achieved by only a handful of North American institutions.
Plus, the team was even featured on live TV in Germany, and the team was picked because their application was the most interesting solution.
An extra shoutout goes to RoboHub for helping the team host the robot and the setup and helping the group bring their vision to fruition, which ultimately helped them compete in this competition.