We were reading the other day about an American university team that has developed a robot it calls SnackBot. As far as we can tell, SnackBot, which incorporates a $20,000 laser navigation system and sonar sensors, exists primarily to retrieve snacks from the kitchen while you're drinking beer and watching television.

Unsurprisingly, Japanese companies are also developing robochefs, and the Motoman SDA-10 specializes in okonomiyaki. Check out the spatula hands.

None of these robochefs have mouths, however, so we're skeptical that they're able to tell when the food is perfectly cooked, an important consideration when you like your pasta al dente rather than scotta!

You can read the story here.