CaliExpress by Flippy
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CaliExpress by Flippy

Robot-Made Burgers & Fries
ABOUT CALIEXPRESS
HAMBURGERS: A&W BAKER'S DRIVE-THRU BOB'S BIG BOY BURGER KING CALIEXPRESS BY FLIPPY


Robot-Made Burgers & Fries
Once you place an order their grill robot starts grinding the beef for it and then immediately grills it. Flippy, their robotic fry station, cooks the French fries to exact times. An employee does the finishing touches: salting the fries, grilling onions, assembling the burger, and serving the order.

Updated October 2024
Posted June 2024

CaliExpress Order Kiosks

CaliExpress Inside

CaliExpress Robot Stuff


CaliExpress Kiosk

CaliExpress Menu Burgers

CaliExpress Menu Cali Lettuce Wrap Burger


CaliExpress Robot Made

CaliExpress Frying Robot

CaliExpress Meet Flippy

CaliExpress Window


CaliExpress Order Fries
1
Customer Orders Fries

CaliExpress Grabs Empty Basket
2
Flippy Grabs an Empty Basket

CaliExpress Takes it Over
3
Flippy Takes it Over

CaliExpress To be Filled
4
To be Filled

CaliExpress Filled French Fries
5
French Fries Added

CaliExpress Returns Basket
6
Basket Returns

CaliExpress Drops in Oil
7
Drops Basket in Oil

CaliExpress Frying
8
Frying

CaliExpress Fry Baskets


CaliExpress Grill Robot Next Out

CaliExpress Grill Robot 1

CaliExpress Grill Robot 2

CaliExpress Grill Robot 3

CaliExpress Grill Robot 4

CaliExpress Grill Robot 5

CaliExpress Grill Robot 6

CaliExpress Grill Robot 7

CaliExpress Grill Robot 8

CaliExpress Grill Robot 9

CaliExpress Grill Robot 10

CaliExpress Grill Robot 11

CaliExpress Grill Person 1

CaliExpress Grill Person 2

CaliExpress Grill Person 3

CaliExpress Grill Person 4

CaliExpress Grill Person 5


CaliExpress Cheeseburger
Cheeseburger
  • Lettuce Wrap
  • Grilled Onion

CaliExpress Lettuce Wrap
Lettuce Wrap

CaliExpress Grilled Onions
Grilled Onions

CaliExpress Wagyu Blend
Wagyu Blend


CaliExpress GPU's
Original Flippy Graphical Processing Units (GPU's)
2016
Miso Innovation Lab/Pasadena, CA

These GPUs, essentially the brains of Flippy, were part of the experimental "Flippy Cart" that was tested during the World Series at Dodger Stadium! Flippy Cart earned its name by being uniquely designed on wheels to be mobile, a rarity in commercial kitchens.

Did you know?! These four GPUs used to be needed add-ons to run Flippy and all its Al vision tech. We've optimized so much that Flippy units today run using just a single system-on-a-chip (SoC).

CaliExpress Flippy Dispenser Drums
Dispenser Drums
2016-23
Miso Innovation Lab/Pasadena, CA

Portioning order sizes is unexpectedly difficult. The Miso team created many different 3D-printed dispenser "drum" designs, including these, to get portions right for small, medium, and large sized orders for a wide variety of food sizes, shapes and textures - this was the reason to research drum designs.

The drum is located at the bottom of the freezer that holds Flippy's frozen items. When an order is placed, the drum spins, pushing the correct amount of items into a waiting basket.

Each design was tested to gauge which was most gentle on the food, prone to sticking, and generally efficient.

CaliExpress Rail Motors & Gearboxes
Rail Motors & Gearboxes
2016-23
Miso Innovation Lab/Pasadena, CA

Flippy's robotic arm slides back-and-forth on a rail. Before Flippy, this had never been done before in restaurant automation, and Flippy actually holds the patent for this innovation. Miso engineers innovated in extremely novel ways to make Flippy as versatile as it is - now being able to fry nearly any type of food.

CaliExpress Original Flippy Arm
The Original Flippy Arm
2017
Miso Innovation Lab/Pasadena, CA

This original Flippy robotic arm operated at both the grill and fry stations, and utilized several different types of "grippers" to grab burger patties and fried items. Flippy originally earned his name by flipping burgers on a grill, but soon proved to be a rock star at making French fries, onion rings, and anything else fried! While other, more frying-centric names were considered as Flippy migrated solely to the fry station, crowds loved the Flippy name so much that it has remained unchanged.

CaliExpress Soft Gripper
Soft Gripper
2017
Miso Innovation Lab/Pasadena, CA

In the early days of Miso, Flippy flipped burgers! This "soft gripper" was one of the original features tested to place raw patties on the grill. Eventually, a more spatula-like design became part of Flippy's system to both place patties and flip burgers mid-cook.

CaliExpress Pneumatic Gripper
Original Pneumatic Gripper for Frying
2018
Miso Innovation Lab/Pasadena, CA

Once moving solely to the fry station, Flippy required a custom-designed gripper to grab and move baskets. This design used compress air to open and close Flippy's gripper.

We now use electric actuated grippers, and have removed the air compressor, which required heavy maintenance frequently.

CaliExpress Original Flippy
Original Flippy
2018
Miso Innovation Lab/Pasadena, CA

Flippy earned its name by originally launching as a burger-flipping robot in 2018, essentially ushering in the start of the "food tech" era. Through its early trials, we learned that the fry station presented a far larger opportunity, and quickly evolved the product to instead tackle that task - a $3.5 billion revenue opportunity for Miso alone. Despite many later attempts to change the name to "Frybo" and other fry-related monikers, Flippy had become beloved, and customers and fans alike insisted that this new iteration retain the original Flippy name.

CaliExpress Original Burger Flippy

CaliExpress First Generation Flippy
First Generation Flippy at CaliBurger
2019
Fort Myers, Florida

Here one of the original Flippy prototype units fries onion rinas on its first day of operation.

CaliExpress First Gen Flippy
First Generation Flippy at CaliBurger
2019
Fort Myers, Florida

One of the first Flippy units, this prototype was one of two at the location. Here is the unit during its initial installation and setup.

CaliExpress Chippy
Chippy
2021
Miso Innovation Lab/Pasadena, CA

This experimental incarnation of "Chippy" condensed many of Flippy's innovations into a smaller, mobile unit designed to cook tortilla chips. After frying the chips, Chippy would add salt and fresh lime juice, and then deposit the chips into a large bin below.

Newer versions of Chippy, which operate today in several secret locations throughout the U.S., feature an improved design that was architected using large amounts of proprietary data gathered in commercial kitchen testing with this unit. With Chippy cooking its chips perfectly every time, this Chippy unit participated in countless taste tests — and won them all!

CaliExpress Flippy2
Flippy2 at CaliBurger
December 2021
Westlake Center, WA

Flippy 2 launched in 2021 from the learnings of the first Flippy. The CaliBurger Westlake Center location served up over 36,000 baskets during its test mission.

CaliExpress IP 54
The IP 54 Gripper
2022
Miso Innovation Lab/Pasadena, CA

As Flippy evolved, gripper designs were updated rapidly, becoming smaller, stronger, and faster as Miso engineers refined the design. This original IP 54 design led to the gripper that Flippy uses today.

CaliExpress Industrial 3D Printer
Industrial 3D Printer
2022
Miso Innovation Lab/Pasadena, CA

Virtually everything Flippy does has never been done before. As recently as only a few years ago, when Flippy's designers wanted to create a new feature, it could take weeks to design, manufacture, and test prototype parts.

It involved a lot of back-and-forth, overnight shipping, and third party partners. Today, it can take mere minutes to design, 3D-print, and start testing new parts right in the Miso Innovation Lab that now houses a dozen such 3D printers.

CaliExpress by Flippy