German airline WD Aviation piloted (sorry…) the new Skytender robot. Right now, it’s a collaboration between humans and robots, stopping short of a fully robotic sky attendant:
That maiden flight of the “Skytender” trolley represents a possible step along the long road toward a fully robotic drink service for passengers.
Flight attendants served up to 18 different drinks from the Skytender by simply pushing a button during a recent commercial flight aboard German airline WDL Aviation. Such technology falls short of fully robotic service, but it manages to combine machine-like efficiencywith the more personal touch of human service.
The current drawback, and one that keeps coming up with service robots:
Service robots have only just begun to get their bearings in the non-demanding environments of research labs at universities such as MIT. None would win awards for speedy, inexpensive or efficient service, let alone have the capability to deal with the complex scenarios of demanding human passengers during long airline flights.
