Humanoid robots in Xinjiang tried their hand at cooking local dishes, but are still far from mastery
Cooking is not just a set of movements and precise calculations. It is an art in which a person puts intuition, experience and soul. A robot can perfectly calculate the force of pressure or the temperature of oil, but it does not feel when the dough "asks" for a little more water or when the meat needs a little less heat. Food preparation remains one of the most difficult tasks for machines, because success here depends not only on algorithms but also on what cannot be programmed. Robots are only learning, and they still have a long way to go before they achieve true mastery.
On Wednesday, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China, a culinary show featured humanoid robots that took on the challenge of preparing local delicacies, demonstrating advances in embodied AI and dexterous robotics. The live demonstration took place on Liuxing Street in Yining City, a national‑level tourist and entertainment area known for its distinctive hexagonal street layout. Visitors gathered at a local restaurant to watch the robot perform a series of cooking tasks. First, the robot grilled kebabs and skewered meat, requiring precise coordination of fingers, wrists and arms, as well as accurate force control when handling soft, uneven pieces of meat. After less than a week of specialised training, it was able to perform basic operations, though still far behind experienced chefs.
The most serious challenge was hand‑pulled noodles, one of Xinjiang's signature dishes. The soft and slippery dough posed a particular difficulty, requiring the robot to apply exactly the right amount of force to stretch it without tearing or dropping it. Equipped with tactile sensors in its dexterous hands, the robot detects changes in pressure and movement during the stretching process. The system records forces applied from different directions, allowing engineers to analyse each attempt and continuously improve its performance through repeated training and data collection. Developers said every movement and tactile interaction generates valuable data that helps refine the robot's capabilities. They believe that such real‑world tasks will accelerate the adaptation of humanoid robots to a wider range of practical applications, paving the way for broader use in both industry and everyday life.
The culinary show serves as a prelude to the second World Humanoid Robot Games, to be held in Beijing from 22 to 26 August. Yining, where the demonstration took place, is a popular tourist destination in Xinjiang, known for its unique layout and rich Uyghur culinary culture. Testing robots in real‑world conditions, such as food preparation, allows engineers to collect data that cannot be obtained in the lab and accelerates the development of adaptive algorithms. As CCTV+ reports. The second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing will be the next major milestone in assessing the progress of this technology.
