EP3665640A1

EP3665640A1 - Self-propelled food preparation appliances and on-demand robotic food assembly with self-propelled food preparation appliances

Info

Publication number: EP3665640A1
Application number: EP18865162.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Joshua Gouled GOLDBERG; Alexander John GARDEN; Julia COLLINS; Victor Charles Darolfi; Russell Kennedy Williams; Andrew David Almendares; Ankita A. VARMA
Original assignee: Zume Inc
Current assignee: Zume Inc
Priority date: 2017-10-06
Filing date: 2018-10-02
Publication date: 2020-06-17
Also published as: WO2019070733A1

Abstract

An on-demand food assembly line can include one or more conveyors and one or more self-propelled food preparation appliances, operable to assemble food items in response to received orders for food items, and one or more ovens operable to, for example, partially cook assembled food items. The self-propelled food preparation appliances may receive one or more instructions that cause each of the self-propelled food preparation appliance to move, as a unit, to one of a plurality of positions along the food assembly line, in which the positions may be based, for example, upon one or more of the type of food item to be prepared and the location of power outlets and/or fuel connections. Cleaning appliances and replenishment appliances may be provided to clean and reload the ingredient for the self-propelled food preparation appliances.

Description

SELF-PROPELLED FOOD PREPARATION APPLIANCES AND ON-DEMAND ROBOTIC FOOD ASSEMBLY WITH SELF-PROPELLED FOOD PREPARATION

APPLIANCES

Technical Field

This description generally relates to the food assembly, for instance assembly of food items for delivery to a customer.

Description of the Related Art

Historically, consumers have had a choice when hot, prepared, food was desired. Some consumers would travel to a restaurant or other food establishment where such food would be prepared and consumed on the premises. Other consumers would travel to the restaurant or other food

establishment, purchase hot, prepared, food and transport the food to an off- premises location, such as a home or picnic location for consumption. Yet other consumers ordered delivery of hot, prepared food, for consumption at home. Over time, the availability of delivery of hot, prepared, foods has increased and now plays a significant role in the marketplace. Delivery of such hot, prepared, foods was once considered the near exclusive purview of Chinese take-out and pizza parlors. However, today even convenience stores and "fast-food" purveyors such as franchised hamburger restaurants have taken to testing the delivery

marketplace.

The delivery of prepared foods traditionally occurs in several discrete acts. First, a consumer places an order for a particular food item with a restaurant or similar food establishment. The restaurant or food establishment prepares the food item or food product per the customer order. The prepared food item is packaged and delivered to the consumer's location. The inherent challenges in such a delivery method are numerous. In addition to the inevitable cooling that occurs while the hot food item is transported to the consumer, many foods may experience a commensurate breakdown in taste, texture, or consistency with the passage of time. For example, the French fries at the burger restaurant may be hot and crispy, but the same French fries will be cold, soggy, and limp by the time they make it home. To address such issues, some food suppliers make use of "hot bags," "thermal packaging," or similar insulated packaging, carriers, and/or food containers to retain at least a portion of the existing heat in the prepared food while in transit to the consumer. While such measures may be at least somewhat effective in retaining heat in the food during transit, such measures do little, if anything, to address issues with changes in food taste, texture, or consistency associated with the delay between the time the food item is prepared and the time the food item is actually consumed.

Further, there are frequently mistakes in orders, with consumers receiving food they did not order, and not receiving food they did order. This can be extremely frustrating, and leaves the consumer or customer faced with the dilemma of settling for the incorrect order or awaiting a replacement order to be cooked and delivered.

BRIEF SUMMARY

An on-demand robotic food assembly line can be used to quickly and efficiently process orders for preparing and/or cooking food items using one or more food preparation appliances that may perform one or more functions for preparing and/or cooking the food orders.

An on-demand food preparation assembly system arranged within a food preparation floor space may be summarized as including a plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliances, each of the self-propelled food preparation appliances respectively including a communications subsystem, a propulsion subsystem operable to move the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance about the food preparation floor space, at least one controller communicatively coupled to the communications subsystem and operatively coupled to the propulsion subsystem, and at least one piece of food preparation equipment; and at least one controller, the at least one controller communicatively coupleable to each of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances, the at least one controller which includes at least one processor, and at least one nontransitory processor-readable storage device communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and which stores processor-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: determine an arrangement of at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances along at least a portion of a food preparation assembly line, the food preparation assembly line along which food items to be prepared progress from an upstream position of the food preparation assembly line toward a downstream position of the food preparation assembly line, and transmit at least one instruction to at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances, the at least one instruction which causes the at least one self-propelled food

preparation appliance to move as a unit across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to a destination based at least in part upon the determined arrangement to form at least a portion of the food preparation assembly line along which the food items progress from the upstream position toward the downstream position.

The processor-readable memory may further include processor executable instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to transmit one or more instructions to each of the self-propelled food preparation appliances in the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances, the one or more instructions which cause at least a first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across respective portions of the food preparation floor space to respective destinations based at least in part upon the determined arrangement.

Each self-propelled food preparation appliance in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances may further include at least a second controller which comprises at least a second processor and a second nontransitory processor-readable storage device communicatively coupled to the second processor and which stores processor-executable instructions which, when executed by the second processor, cause each of the respective second processors to determine a route to a respective destination for a different one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances in the first set of the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliances. Each self-propelled food preparation appliance in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances may move autonomously with respect to the other self-propelled food preparation appliances in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances.

The on-demand food preparation assembly system may further include an assembly line that extends across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space, wherein the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances moves to a position along the assembly line based at least in part on the determined arrangement.

At least one of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances may further include an individual conveyor belt that extends at least between a first side of the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance and a second side of the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance, the second side opposed from the first side across a width of the respective self- propelled food preparation appliance. The plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances may be positioned to align the respective individual conveyor belts of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances into an assembly line. The arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliances may be based at least in part on a first type of food item to be prepared.

The propulsion subsystem of at least one of the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliances may further include a motor and at least one of at least one wheel or at least one set of treads, wherein the motor drivingly couples with the at least one wheel or the at least one set of treads, the motor which in operation drives the at least one wheel or the at least one set of treads to move the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance about the food preparation floor space.

The communications subsystem may further include at least one radio.

The communications subsystem may further include at least one antenna, the at least one antenna communicatively coupled with the at least one radio. The arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances may be determined based at least in part on input received via an operator interface. The input from the user may include initial input from the user, and the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliance may be determined autonomously without further input received via the operator interface.

At least one of the plurality of self-propelled appliances may further include a power subsystem, the power subsystem which includes a power interface. Each of one or more power-supply interfaces may be placed in respective locations within the food preparation floor space, the one or more power-supply interfaces which are electrically coupleable with the power interface on the power subsystem. The arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliance may be determined based at least in part on the respective locations of the one or more power-supply interfaces. At least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances may include a power interface, and the power interface for at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances electrically may couple with the power interface of the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances. The power interface may include one or more of a power-supply outlet, a plug, and an inductive coupler. At least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances may further include a fuel coupling interface. The fuel coupling interface may include an coupler that is selectively physically coupleable to a fuel supply to receive at least one of propane and natural gas and provides a fluid path therebetween. The food preparation floor space may include one or more registration features placed at respective locations on the food preparation floor space, and the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances may be based at least in part on the respective locations of the one or more registration features. The registration features may include one or more of: a number of visible marks, a number of wireless transponders, a number of RFID transponders, a number of physical docks, and a number of proximity sensors.

The on-demand food preparation assembly line may further include a cleaning appliance selectively operable to clean one or more of the self-propelled food preparation appliances. The at least one nontransitory processor-readable storage device stores processor-executable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may cause the at least one processor to further transmit at least one instruction to at least one of the self-propelled food preparation

appliances, the at least one instruction may cause the at least one of the self- propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the cleaning appliance. The at least one nontransitory processor-readable storage device stores processor-executable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may cause the at least one processor to transmit at least one instruction to at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances that causes the at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to replace the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances that is to be or that is being cleaned by the cleaning appliance. The cleaning appliance may include one of one or more nozzles for a liquid-based cleaning agent and one or more ultraviolet radiation (UV) emitters. The on-demand food preparation assembly line may further include a replenishment appliance selectively operable to reload or replenish ingredients dispensed by one or more of the self-propelled food preparation appliances. The at least one nontransitory processor-readable storage device stores processor- executable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may cause the processor to transmit at least one instruction to the replenishment appliance to receive a low-ingredient notification transmitted by least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances, and to transmit one or more instructions that cause the replenishment appliance to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances in response to the low-ingredient notification. The at least one nontransitory processor-readable storage device stores processor-executable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, may cause the at least one processor to transmit at least one instruction to the at least one of the self- propelled food preparation appliances, the at least one instruction may cause the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the replenishment appliance.

The on-demand food preparation assembly system may further include a stationary food preparation appliance, wherein the food preparation assembly line is comprised of the stationary food preparation appliance and the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances.

The food preparation assembly line may further include a conveyor comprised of food grade metal. The conveyor may be separate from the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances.

A method of operating an on-demand food preparation assembly system within a food preparation floor space, the on-demand food preparation assembly system including a plurality of self-propelled food preparation

appliances, may be summarized as including determining by at least one processor an arrangement of at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances along at least a portion of the a food preparation assembly line, the food preparation assembly line along which food items to be prepared progress from an upstream positon of the food preparation assembly line toward a downstream position of the food preparation assembly line; and transmitting via a communications subsystem at least one instruction to at least one of the self- propelled food preparation appliance, the at least one instruction which causes the at least one self-propelled food preparation appliance to move as a unit across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to a destination based at least in part upon the determined arrangement to form at least a portion of the food preparation assembly line.

The method may further include transmitting via the communications subsystem one or more instructions to each of the self-propelled food preparation appliances in the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances, the one or more instructions which cause at least a first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across respective portions of the food preparation floor space to respective destinations based at least in part upon the determined arrangement.

The method may further include determining by a processor located at one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances a route to the respective destination for the one self-propelled food preparation appliances in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances. The method may further include autonomously moving by each self-propelled food preparation appliance in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances may move autonomously with respect to the other self-propelled food preparation appliances in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances.

The on-demand food preparation assembly system may further include an assembly line that extends across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space, and the method may further comprise moving by the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to a position along the assembly line based at least in part on the determined arrangement.

Transmitting via a communications subsystem may further include transmitting at least one instruction to at least one self-propelled food preparation appliance in which the at least one self-propelled food preparation appliance may further include an individual conveyor belt that may extend at least between a first side of the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance and a second side of the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance, the second side opposed from the first side across a width of the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance.

The method may further include determining positions for each of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances within the food preparation floor space, the respective positons which align the respective individual conveyor belts of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances into an assembly line. Determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliances may be based at least in part on a first type of food item to be prepared.

At least one of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances may include a propulsion subsystem that may include a motor and at least one of at least one wheel or at least one set of treads, and may further include drivingly engaging the propulsion subsystem, such drivingly engaging comprising drivingly engaging by the motor the at least one wheel or the at least one set of treads to move the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance about the food preparation floor space.

Transmitting may further include transmitting to at least one of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances that include a communication subsystem, the communications subsystem further comprises at least one radio. Transmitting may further include transmitting to a communications subsystem that includes at least one antenna, the at least one antenna

communicatively coupled with the at least one radio.

The method may further include receiving a transmission that includes receiving an indication via an operator interface, wherein determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances is based at least in part on the input received from the operator interface.

The method wherein the input received via the operator interface may comprise an initial input, and wherein determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliance may include autonomously determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliance without further input from the user.

Transmitting may further include transmitting to at least one of the plurality of self-propelled appliances may further include a power subsystem and the power subsystem may include a power interface. Each of one or more power- supply interfaces may be placed in respective locations within the food preparation floor space, the one or more power-supply interfaces may be electrically

coupleable with the power interfaces on the power subsystem, and determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliance may include determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliance based at least in part on the respective locations of the one or more power-supply outlets.

At least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances may include a power interface and may further include electrically coupling the power interface for at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances with the power interface of the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances. At least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances may further include a fuel coupler and the method may further include selectively physically coupling the fuel coupler to a fuel supply to receive at least one of propane and natural gas. The food preparation floor space may include one or more registration marks placed at respective locations on the food preparation floor space, and determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances may include determining the

arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliance based at least in part on the respective locations of the one or more registration marks.

The on-demand food preparation assembly system may further include a cleaning appliance for one or more of the self-propelled food preparation appliances and the method may further include transmitting via the

communications subsystem at least one instruction to at least one of the self- propelled food preparation appliances, the at least one instruction which causes the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the cleaning appliance.

The method may further include transmitting via the communications subsystem at least one instruction to at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances that causes the at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to replace the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances that has is to be or that is being cleaned by the cleaning appliance. The transmitting of the at least one instruction to at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances that causes the at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food

preparation floor space to replace the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances may occur before or concurrently with the transmitting the at least one instruction to at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances that causes the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the cleaning appliance.

The method may further include at least one of dispensing via one or more nozzles at the cleaning appliance a liquid-based cleaning agent, or emitting via one or more ultraviolet (UV) radiation at the cleaning appliance ultraviolet radiation.

The on-demand food preparation assembly system may further include a replenishment appliance for ingredients dispenses by one or more of the self-propelled food preparation appliances and the method may further include receiving from at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances a low- ingredient notification.

The method may further include transmitting by the communications subsystem at least one instruction that causes the replenishment appliance to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances in response to the low- ingredient notification.

The method may further include transmitting by the communications subsystem at least one instruction that causes the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the replenishment appliance.

A self-propelled food preparation appliance for use in a food preparation assembly system arranged within a food preparation floor space may be summarized as including at least one piece of food preparation equipment selectively operable to perform at least one action of at least one item of food during food preparation; a conveyor that provides a path along which the at least one item of food is conveyed; a propulsion subsystem selectively operable to move the self-propelled food preparation appliance about a food preparation floor space as a unit; a communications subsystem; at least one controller communicatively coupled to the communications subsystem and operatively coupled to the at least one piece of food preparation equipment to control operation of the at least one piece of food preparation equipment, operatively coupled to the conveyor to control operation of the conveyor, and operatively coupled to the propulsion subsystem to control the propulsion subsystem. The communications subsystem may receive one or more instructions, the one or more instructions, when executed by the at least one controller, may cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance to move across portions of the food preparation floor space to a destination. The at least one controller may execute instructions to determine a route to the

destination.

The self-propelled food preparation appliance may further include a sensor, the sensor may generate a signal indicative of objects in a three- dimensional space surrounding the self-propelled food preparation appliance, the sensor may be communicatively coupled with the at least one controller, and the at least one controller may determine the route to the destination based at least in part on the signal received from the sensor. The at least one controller may modify the determined route to the destination based at least in part on the signal received from the sensor. The sensor subsystem may include at least one of a Lidar system, a stereo vision system, a radar system, Lidar system, or a computer vision system. The destination may include a position along an assembly line comprised of a plurality of self-propelled food distribution appliances. The propulsion subsystem may include a motor and at least one of at least one wheel or at least one set of treads, the motor may drivingly couple with the at least one wheel or the at least one set of treads, the motor in operation may drive the at least one wheel or the at least one set of treads to move the respective self- propelled food preparation appliance about the food preparation floor space.

The communications subsystem may further include at least one radio. The communications subsystem may further include at least one antenna, the at least one antenna communicatively coupled with the at least one radio.

The self-propelled food distribution appliance may further include a power subsystem, the power subsystem which includes a power receptacle.

The power subsystem may further include a power outlet, the power outlet may be physically selectively coupleable with a power receptacle located on a separate self-propelled food distribution appliance.

The self-propelled food distribution appliance may further include an ingredient reservoir, the ingredient reservoir which is sized and shaped to contain an amount of an ingredient; and an ingredient sensor located proximate the ingredient reservoir, the ingredient sensor which generates an ingredient sensor signal to indicate an amount of the ingredient in the ingredient reservoir, the ingredient sensor which is communicably coupled with the at least one controller; wherein the at least one controller generates a low-ingredient notification signal when the ingredient signal is below a defined threshold. The food preparation assembly system may include a second station and a replenishment appliance, the at least one controller may transmit the low-ingredient notification signal via the communications subsystem to the second station, and the second station may cause the replenishment appliance to replenish the amount of the ingredient.

The self-propelled food distribution appliance may further include a low-ingredient indicator which is communicatively coupled to the at least one controller, wherein the low-ingredient indicator is operable to generate at least one of a visual signal or an audible signal in response to receiving the low-ingredient notification signal from the at least one controller. The food preparation assembly system may include a second station and a replenishment appliance, and the second station, upon detecting the at least one of the visual signal or the audible signal generated by the low-ingredient indicator, may cause the replenishment appliance to replenish the amount of the ingredient. The food preparation assembly system may include a second station and a replenishment appliance, the at least one controller may transmit the low- ingredient notification signal via the communications subsystem to the second station, and the at least one controller may receive in response via the

communications subsystem one or more instructions, the one or more instructions which, when executed by the at least one controller, may cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance to move across portions of the food preparation floor space to the replenishment appliance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, identical reference numbers identify similar elements or acts. The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the shapes of various elements and angles are not drawn to scale, and some of these elements are arbitrarily enlarged and positioned to improve drawing legibility. Further, the particular shapes of the elements as drawn, are not intended to convey any information regarding the actual shape of the particular elements, and have been solely selected for ease of recognition in the drawings.

Figure 1 A is a schematic diagram of an on-demand robotic food assembly line environment that includes an order front end server computer system to, for example, receive orders from consumers or customers, an order assembly control system to control an on-demand robotic food assembly line, and order dispatch and en route cooking control system to control dispatch and en route cooking of food items, the on-demand robotic food assembly line can include one or more conveyors and one or more robots, operable to assemble food items in response to received orders for food items, according to one illustrated embodiment.

Figure 1 B is a schematic diagram of an on-demand robotic food assembly line such as that depicted in Figure 1 , that employs one or more conveyors and one or more robots to assemble food items based on received food orders, package the assembled food items in packaging, and optionally load the packaged assembled food items into cooking units (e.g., ovens) that are optionally loaded into cooking racks that are, in turn, optionally loaded into delivery vehicles where the food is cooked under controlled conditions while en route to consumer destinations, according to one illustrated embodiment.

Figure 2A is an isometric view of a type of self-propelled food preparation appliance that includes a carousel for dispensing ingredients, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 2B is an isometric view of a type of self-propelled food preparation appliance that includes a picker that is operable to dispense ingredients, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 2C is an isometric view of a type of self-propelled food preparation appliance that includes a picker assembly that is operable to dispense ingredients and an individual conveyor that conveys food items, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 2D is an isometric view of a type of self-propelled food preparation appliance that includes a plurality of food storage containers, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 2E is an isometric view of a type of stationary fluid-based cleaning appliance, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 2F is an isometric view of a type of self-propelled fluid-based cleaning appliance, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 2G is an isometric view of a type of stationary ultraviolet light- based cleaning appliance, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 2H is an isometric view of a type of stationary replenishment appliance, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 2I is an isometric view of a type of self-propelled replenishment appliance, according to at least one illustrated implementation. Figure 3A is a front elevational view of a sauce dispenser of the on- demand robotic food assembly line of Figure 1 B, operable to selective dispense a quantity of sauce as part of an food item assembly process, according to at least one illustrated embodiment.

Figure 3B is a front elevational view of a cover for a cutter robot of the on-demand robotic food assembly line of Figure 1 B, operable to slice or cut a food item into sections, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 4 is an isometric view of a robotic spreader, according to one or more illustrated embodiments, the robotic spreader having a number of arms and an end of arm spreader tool.

Figure 5 is an isometric view of an end of arm spreader tool of the robotic spreader of Figure 4, according to one or more illustrated embodiments, the end of arm spreader tool having a contact portion and a coupler, the coupler which selectively detachably couples the contact portion to one or more arms of the robotic spreader.

Figure 6A is a bottom plan view of the coupler of the end of arm spreader tool of the robotic spreader of Figure 4, according to one or more illustrated embodiments.

Figure 6B is a side elevational view of the coupler of the end of arm spreader tool of the robotic spreader of Figure 4, according to one or more illustrated embodiments.

Figure 6C is a top plan view of the coupler of the end of arm spreader tool of the robotic spreader of Figure 4, according to one or more illustrated embodiments.

Figure 7 A is an isometric view of the contact portion of the end of arm spreader tool of the robotic spreader of Figure 4, according to one or more illustrated embodiments. Figure 7B is a side elevational view of the contact portion of the end of arm spreader tool of the robotic spreader of Figure 4, according to one or more illustrated embodiments.

Figure 7C is a top plan view of the contact portion of the end of arm spreader tool of the robotic spreader of Figure 4, according to one or more illustrated embodiments.

Figure 8A is a side elevational view of a dispensing container that may have a number of different dispensing ends for dispensing various toppings, including a grater, a nozzle, a rotating blade, and a linear blade.

Figure 8B is a side elevational view of a dispensing container along with a single-use canister that contains sufficient topping items to provide toppings for a single item on the conveyor, according to one illustrated implementation.

Figure 8C is an isometric view of a refrigerated environment that may be used for one or more of the work stations used on an on-demand robotic food assembly line such as that depicted in Figure 1 , work stations that include the cheese application robots and the toppings application robots, according to one illustrated implementation.

Figures 8D is an isometric view of a linear dispensing array that may be used to dispense various toppings from multiple dispensing containers onto items being transported by the conveyor, according to one illustrated

implementation.

Figures 8E is an isometric top-side view of a dispenser carousel that may be used to dispense one or more toppings on items being transported by the conveyor, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 8F is a top plan view showing the carousel from Figure 2F in a position to dispense from one dispensing container onto a conveyer.

Figure 8G is a top plan view showing the carousel from Figure 2F in a position to concurrently dispense from two dispensing containers onto two parallel conveyors. Figure 8H is a top plan view showing the carousel from Figure 2F in a position to concurrently dispense from two dispensing containers onto one conveyor.

Figure 81 is a side elevational view of a dispensing end that has a grating attachment, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 8J is a side elevational view of a dispensing end that has a nozzle, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 8K is a side elevational view of a dispensing end that has a rotating blade attachment, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 8L is a side elevational view of a dispensing end that has a linear slicer attachment, according to at least one illustrated implementation.

Figure 9 is a partially exploded view of a transfer conveyor end of arm tool, according to an illustrated embodiment, the transfer conveyor end of arm tool may be physically coupled to an appendage of a robot for movement, for instance movement between a first and a second conveyor which operate at different transport speeds from one another.

Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing a processor-based system interacting with a number of delivery vehicles which each include a plurality of cooking units, for example ovens, and respective processor-based routing an cooking modules, according to an illustrated embodiment.

Figure 1 1 is a logic flow diagram of an example order processing method, according to an illustrated embodiment.

Figure 12 is a logic flow diagram of an example method of controlling on-demand robotic food assembly line, according to an illustrated embodiment.

Figure 13 is a logic flow diagram of an example method of controlling on-demand robotic food assembly line, according to an illustrated embodiment.

Figure 14 is a logic flow diagram of an example method of controlling dispatch and/or en route cooking of ordered food items, according to an illustrated embodiment. Figure 15 is a logic flow diagram of an example method of controlling dispatch and/or en route cooking of ordered food items, according to an illustrated embodiment.

Figure 16 is a logic flow diagram of an example method of controlling one or more self-propelled food preparation appliance according to a determined arrangement of food preparation appliances, according to an illustrated

implementations.

Figure 17 is a logic flow diagram of an example method of a self- propelled food preparation appliance moving towards a destination, according to an illustrated implementation.

Figure 18 is a high level logic flow diagram of operation of the robotic spreader of Figure 4, according to an illustrated implementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosed embodiments. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognize that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, certain structures associated with food preparation devices such as ovens, skillets, and other similar devices, closed- loop controllers used to control cooking conditions, food preparation techniques, wired and wireless communications protocols, geolocation, and optimized route mapping algorithms have not been shown or described in detail to avoid

unnecessarily obscuring descriptions of the embodiments. In other instances, certain structures associated with conveyors and/or robots are have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring descriptions of the embodiments.

Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims which follow, the word "comprise" and variations thereof, such as, "comprises" and "comprising" are to be construed in an open, inclusive sense, that is as "including, but not limited to."

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or

characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more

embodiments.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. It should also be noted that the term "or" is generally employed in its sense including "and/or" unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

The headings and Abstract of the Disclosure provided herein are for convenience only and do not interpret the scope or meaning of the embodiments.

As used herein the terms "food item" and "food product" refer to any item or product intended for human consumption. Although illustrated and described herein in the context of pizza to provide a readily comprehensible and easily understood description of one illustrative embodiment, one of ordinary skill in the culinary arts and food preparation will readily appreciate the broad

applicability of the systems, methods, and apparatuses described herein across any number of prepared food items or products, including cooked and uncooked food items or products.

As used herein the terms "robot" or "robotic" refer to any device, system, or combination of systems and devices that includes at least one appendage, typically with an end of arm tool or end effector, where the at least one appendage is selectively moveable to perform work or an operation useful in the preparation a food item or packaging of a food item or food product. The robot may be autonomously controlled, for instance based at least in part on information from one or more sensors {e.g., optical sensors used with machine-vision algorithms, position encoders, temperature sensors, moisture or humidity sensors). Alternatively, one or more robots can be remotely controlled by a human operator.

As used herein the term "cooking unit" refers to any device, system, or combination of systems and devices useful in cooking or heating of a food product. While such preparation may include the heating of food products during preparation, such preparation may also include the partial or complete cooking of one or more food products. Additionally, while the term "oven" may be used interchangeably with the term "cooking unit" herein, such usage should not limit the applicability of the systems and methods described herein to only foods which can be prepared in an oven. For example, a hot skillet surface, a deep fryer, a microwave oven, and/or toaster can be considered a "cooking unit" that is included within the scope of the systems, methods, and apparatuses described herein.

Further, the cooking unit may be able to control more than temperature. For example, some cooking units may control pressure and/or humidity. Further, some cooking units may control airflow therein, thus able to operate in a convective cooking mode if desired, for instance to decrease cooking time.

Description of Delivery System Environments

Figures 1 A and 1 B shows an on-demand robotic food assembly line environment 100 according one illustrated embodiment. The on-demand robotic food assembly line environment 100 includes one or more on-demand robotic food preparation assembly lines 102 (one shown) that are arranged within a food preparation floor space 101 . The food preparation assembly line 102 are operable to food preparation convey food items such that the food items to be prepared progress from an upstream position 1 15 of the food preparation assembly line toward a downstream position 1 17 of the food preparation assembly line 102. The food preparation floor space 101 may include one or more adjoining areas upon which food preparation appliances related to one or more food preparation assembly lines 102 may be arranged to prepare a food item. Such a food preparation floor space 101 may be located within a warehouse type of facility that may have relatively large, uninterrupted floor plans for arranging food preparation, or other types of, appliances. In some implementations, the food preparation floor space 101 may be comprised of floor space within multiple rooms among which the various food preparation appliances may move. In some instances, at least some of the multiple rooms may be continuous. In some instances, at least some of the multiple rooms may be separated from others of the multiple rooms. In such an instance, the food preparation floor space 101 may be comprised of the collection of floor space of the contiguous as well as the noncontiguous multiple rooms. In some instances, the food preparation assembly line 102 may extend across two or more levels or floors of a building, or even between two or more buildings. In some implementations, the food preparation floor space 101 may be comprised of a food-grade material such as a plastic or linoleum material.

In some implementations, the food preparation assembly line 102 may include two or more defined locations, which may define or be denominated as work stations, work spaces, work cells, or docking stations, as explained herein. In some implementations, the food preparation floor space 101 may include one or more registration features 1 1 1 . Such registration features 1 1 1 may be used to move the various appliances about the food preparation floor space 101 , and may be used to arrange the various appliances along the food preparation assembly line 102 to prepare a food item. In some implementations, each of the various registration features 1 1 1 may be unique, such that the detection of one of the registration features 1 1 1 may be used to determine a location upon the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, one or more of the registration features 1 1 1 may include one or more machine-readable symbols {e.g., bar code symbols) that may provide information regarding the area or floor space surrounding the respective registration feature 1 1 1 . In some

implementations, for example, the machine-readable symbol may provide information to locate a nearby power-supply outlet or other connector. In some implementations, at least some registration features 1 1 1 may be comprised of signal generators that emit an electronic beacon signal that includes a unique identifier for each respective registration feature 1 1 1 , such that receipt of one or more of the electronic beacon signals and recognition of the included unique identifiers may be used to determine location information. In some

implementations, the electronic beacon signal may be used to encode additional information regarding the area or floor space surrounding the signal generator. In some implementations, the registration features 1 1 1 may include transponders, lights, proximity sensors, contact sensors, image capturing devices, and/or image recognition devices.

The food preparation floor space 101 may include one or more types of interfaces {e.g., connectors, outlets) to facilitate the operation of the appliances on the food preparation assembly line 102. Various conduits may be placed beneath the food preparation floor space 101 to facilitate the placement of the various interfaces within the food preparation floor space 101 . Such conduits may be used to carry electrical wiring and one or more fluid pathways to carry fluids and/or compressed gases. For example, one or more drains may be placed at various locations around the food preparation floor space 101 to assist in removing fluid. Such drains 1 19 may be advantageous, for example, in cleaning spilled ingredients and in facilitating the cleaning of the appliances by draining any used cleaning fluids. In some implementations, the food preparation floor space 101 may include one or more electrical power-supply interfaces 121 {e.g., electrical outlets, electrical receptacles, electrical plugs, inductive charging coils). Such electrical power-supply interfaces 121 may be used to provide electrical power to the appliances located and operating upon the food preparation floor space 101 . In some instances, the respective electrical power-supply interfaces 121 may provide power at one or more respective voltages. In some instances, for example, a first set of the electrical power-supply interfaces 121 may provide power at a first voltage {e.g., 1 10 V), and a second set of the electrical power supple interfaces 121 may provide power at a second voltage {e.g., 220 V). Such electrical power-supply interfaces 121 may be electrically coupleable with corresponding power receptacle located on the various appliances {e.g., such as self-propelled food preparation appliances, as described below) that are located upon the food preparation floor space 101 . Such electrical power-supply interfacesl 21 may include one or more types of physical connectors or an inductive coupler that may be located within the food preparation floor space 101 , for instance in or extending or flush with the floor or adjacent wall, and operable to electrically or inductively couple with a complementary connector or inductive coupler of a food preparation appliance. In some implementations, the food preparation floor space 101 may include various other outlets and associated couplers to selectively provide fluid communication to supply other types of fuels or other gases or fluids to food preparation appliances. For example, in some implementations, the food preparation floor space 101 may include one or more fuel supply connectors 1 13 {e.g., tap, valve) to selectively provide natural gas and/or propane to cooking appliances.

The on-demand robotic food assembly line environment 100 can include one or more processor-based control systems 104, 106, 108

communicatively coupled to receive orders for food items or food products, to dynamically generate, maintain and update a dynamic order queue, generate assembly instructions, packaging instructions, and to control loading and/or dispatch of food items or food products, and optionally control en route cooking of food items or food products.

For example, the on-demand robotic food assembly line environment 100 can include one or more order front end processor-based control systems 104 to, for example, receive orders from consumer or customer processor-based devices, for instance a computing device 1 10a, such as a desktop, laptop or notebook computer, smartphone 1 10b or tablet computer 1 10c (collectively consumer or customer processor-based device 1 10). The order front end processor-based control systems 104one or more order front end processor-based control systems 104 can include one or more hardware circuits, for instance one or more processors 1 12a and/or associated nontransitory storage media, e.g., memory (e.g., FLASH, RAM, ROM) 1 14a and/or spinning media (e.g., spinning magnetic media, spinning optical media) 1 16a that stores at least one of processor-executable instructions or data. The order front end processor-based control systems 104one or more order front end processor-based control systems 104 is communicatively coupled to the consumer or customer processor-based device 1 10, for example via one or more communications channels, for instance one or more non-proprietary network communications channels like a Wide Area Network (WAN) such as the Internet and/or cellular provider communications networks including voice, data and short message service (SMS) networks or channels 1 18.

The order front end processor-based control systems 104one or more order front end processor-based control systems 104 may provide or implement a Web-based interface that allows a consumer or customer to order food items. The Web-based interface can, for example, provide a number of user selectable icons that correspond to respective ones of a number of defined food items, for instance various pizza with respective combinations of toppings.

Alternatively or additionally, the Web-based interface can, for example, provide a number of user selectable icons that correspond to respective ones of a number of specific food items, for instance various toppings for pizza, allowing the consumer or customer to custom design the desired food item.

Also for example, the on-demand robotic food assembly line environment 100 can include one or more, order assembly control systems 106 to either submit to or to control the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102. The one or more order assembly control systems 106 can include one or more hardware circuits, for instance one or more processors 1 12b and/or associated nontransitory storage media, e.g., memory (e.g., FLASH, RAM, ROM) 1 14b and/or spinning media (e.g., spinning magnetic media, spinning optical media) 1 16b that stores at least one of processor-executable instructions or data. The one or more order assembly control systems 106 is communicatively coupled to the order front end processor-based control systems 104 and communicatively coupled to the on-demand robotic food assembly line(s) 102, for example via one or more communications channels, for instance a network communications channel like a proprietary Local Area Network (LAN) or proprietary Wide Area Network (WAN) such as one or more intranets or other networks 120.

Also for example, the on-demand robotic food assembly line environment 100 can include one or more, order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 to control dispatch and en route cooking of food items. The one or more, order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 can include one or more hardware circuits, for instance one or more processors 1 12c and/or associated nontransitory storage media, e.g., memory (e.g., FLASH, RAM, ROM) 1 14c and/or spinning media (e.g., spinning magnetic media, spinning optical media) 1 16c that stores at least one of processor-executable instructions or data. The one or more, order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 is communicatively coupled to the order front end processor-based control systems 104, the order assembly control systems 106 and/or various delivery vehicles and associated cooking units of the delivery vehicles. Some communications can employ one or more proprietary communications channels, for instance a proprietary network communications channel like a proprietary Local Area Network (LAN) or proprietary Wide Area Network (WAN) such as one or more intranets or other networks 120. For instance, communications between the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 and the order front end processor-based control systems 104 or the order assembly control systems 106 can occur via one or more proprietary communications channels. Some communications can employ one or more non-proprietary communications channels, for instance one or more non-proprietary network communications channels like a Wide Area Network (WAN) such as the Internet and/or cellular provider communications networks including voice, data and short message service (SMS) networks or channels 1 18. For instance, communications between the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 and the vehicles or cooking units of the vehicles can occur via one or more non-proprietary communications channels, e.g., cellular

communications network system.

An operator processor-based device 103 may be communicatively coupled to one or more of the order front end processor-based control systems 104, order assembly control systems 106, and the en route cooking control systems 108. The operator processor-based device 1 03 may be used to receive one or more inputs or instructions from an operator and to provide information, such as order, cooking, and/or delivery status information, to the operator. Such information can be received and provided via, for example, an operator interface 103a, which may be rendered on a display of the operator processor-based device 103 or otherwise presented {e.g., aural, tactile, lights). In some implementations, for example, the operator may use the operator interface 103a to add orders to an order queue or to modify the arrangement of orders in an existing order queue. In some implementations, the operator may submit information indicating one or more types of food items to be prepared by the on-demand robotic food

preparation assembly line 102. Such information may result in the food appliances to move along the food preparation floor space 101 to new locations to prepare the indicated type of food item. In some implementations, the operator may only indicate the type of food item to be prepared, in which case the arrangement of the food preparation appliance along the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may occur automatically by one or more processor-enabled devices without further input from the operator.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 can include one or more assembly conveyors 122a, 122b (collectively 122), one or more work stations 124a-124j (collectively 124) at which food items or food products are assembled, one or more replenishment appliances 105 that may be used to replenish or reload ingredients used to prepare the food items or food products, and one or more cleaning appliances 107 that may be used to clean one or more of the devices used to prepare the food items or foods products. The assembly conveyors 122 operate to move a food item or food product being assembled past a number of work stations 124 and associated equipment. The assembly conveyors 122 may take the form of one or more conveyor belts, conveyor grills or racks or conveyor chains, typically with an endless belt, grill or chain that is driven in a closed circular path by one or more motors {e.g., electrical motor, electrical stepper motor) via a transmission {e.g., gears, traction rollers).

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 can include one or more types of self-propelled food preparation appliances 130, 154, 156a, 156b (Figure 1 B), 212, and/or 214 operable to assemble food items or food products on demand (i.e. in response to actually received orders for food items or self-generated orders for food items). The self-propelled food preparation appliances may also include food transfer robots 166 {e.g., a first transfer robot 166a and a second transfer robot 166b), packaging robots 170, loading robots 192, replenishment appliances 105, cleaning appliances 107, racks 199, and/or speed racks 201 . In some implementations the on-demand robotic food

preparation assembly line 102 can include one or more types of stationary food preparation appliances 140. Stationary food preparation appliances may also include ovens 158 and/or cutter robots 178. In some implementations, one or more food preparation appliances may each be associated with one or more work stations 124, for instance one food preparation appliance per work station. In some implementations, one or more work station 124 may not have an associated food preparation appliance, and may have some other piece of associated equipment {e.g., sauce dispenser, oven) and/or even a human present to perform certain operations.

The example on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 illustrated in Figures 1 A and 1 B is now discussed in terms of an exemplary workflow, although one of skill in the art will recognize that any given application (e.g., type of food item) may require additional equipment, may eliminate or omit some equipment, and/or may arrange equipment in a different order, sequence or workflow.

The order front end processor-based control systems 104one or more order front end processor-based control systems 104 receive orders for food items from consumer or customer processor-based devices. The order specifies each food item by an identifier and/or by a list of ingredients {e.g., toppings). The order also specifies a delivery location, e.g., using a street address and/or geographic coordinates. The order also specifies a customer or consumer by name or other identifier. The order can further identify a time that the order was placed.

The order front end processor-based control systems 104 communicates orders for food items to the one or more order assembly control systems 106. The order assembly control system(s) 106 generates a sequence of orders, and generates control instructions operable to assemble the food items for the various orders. The order assembly control systems 106 can provide instructions to the various components {e.g., conveyors, robots, appliances such as ovens, and/or display screens and/or headset speakers worn by humans) to cause the assembly of the various food items in a desired order or sequence according to a workflow. In some implementations, the order assembly control system(s) 106 may determine an arrangement of the food preparation appliances used within the work stations 124 based, for example, upon the type of food item that is being prepared. In such an implementation, the order assembly control system(s) 106 may generate and transmit instructions {e.g., motion plan) that may cause one or more food preparation appliances to move across the food

preparation floor space 101 based at least in part on the determined arrangement.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include a first or primary assembly conveyor 122a. The first or primary assembly conveyor 122a may convey or transit a partially assembled food item 202a-202e (Figure 1 B, collectively 202) past a number of work stations 124a-124d, at which the food item 202 is assembled in various acts or operations. As illustrated in Figure 1 B, the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a may, for example, take the form of one or more food grade conveyor belts 204a-1 - 204a-5 (collectively 204a) that rides on various axles or rollers 206a driven by one or more motors 208a via one or more gears or teethed wheels 210a. In some implementations, at least some of the food grade conveyor belts, such as food grade conveyors 204a-3, 204a-4, and 204a-5, may be associated with, and be part of, individual food preparation appliances, such as self-propelled food preparation appliances 154, 156a, and 156b, respectively. Such self-propelled food preparation appliances 154, 156a, and/or 156b may be positioned such that the respective food grade conveyors 204a-3, 204a-4, and 204a-5 may be aligned to convey food items. In the example of pizza, the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a may initially convey a round of dough or flatten dough 202a (Figure 1 B) either automatically or manually loaded on the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a.

In some instances, the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include two or more parallel first or primary assembly conveyors, an interior first or primary assembly conveyor 122a-1 , and an exterior first or primary assembly conveyor 122a-2. The work stations and one or more robots 140, 154a, 154b, 156a, 156b (Figure 1 A) may be operable to assemble food items or food products on demand on either or all of the two or more parallel first or primary assembly conveyors 122a-1 , 122a-2. In some instances, at least one of the two or more parallel first or primary assembly conveyors {e.g., interior first or primary assembly conveyor 122a-1 ) may be placed and located to provide access to a human operator to place sauce, cheese, or other toppings onto the flatten dough 202a or other food item being transported by the interior one first or primary assembly conveyor 122a-1 . The human operator may place the sauce, cheese, and/or other toppings, for example, when the associated robot(s) 140, 154a, 154b, 156a, and/or 156b is not functioning. Pizzas or other food items that do not require the sauce, cheese, and/or other topping from the non-functioning associated robot 140, 154a, 154b, 156a and/or 156b may continue to be assembled on the other, exterior first or primary assembly conveyor 122a-2.

One or more sensors 123 {e.g., imagers, cameras, video cameras, frame grabbers, radar source and sensor, Lidar source and sensor, ultrasonic source and sensors, mechanical position encoders or optical position encoders such as rotary encoders, optical emitter and receivers pairs that pass a beam of light {e.g., infrared light source and sensor) across a conveyor, commonly referred to as an "electric eye", ultrasonic position detectors, digital cameras, Hall effect sensors, load cells, magnetic or electromagnetic radiation {e.g., infrared

light)based proximity sensors) may be located along the edge of the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a at the location at which the round of dough or flatten dough 202a is loaded.

Such sensors 123 may be placed at the beginning of the primary assembly conveyor 122a. In some instances, the sensors 123 may be used to detect whether the round of dough or flatten dough 202a was correctly loaded onto the primary assembly conveyor 122a, for example, approximately towards the center of the width of the primary assembly conveyor 122a. For example, optical emitter and receiver pairs or a camera with image recognition system can be used to detect the location of the round or flatten dough 202a. In some

implementations, the color of the primary assembly conveyor 122a may be based on the color of the emitter being used to detect the location of the round or flatten dough 202a. Thus, for example, the primary assembly conveyor 122a may be colored red or blue to facilitate the detection capabilities of a laser that emits red light. The intensity of the light being emitted by the emitter may vary as the flatten dough is being processed along the primary assembly conveyor 122a. For example, the intensity of the emitter may increase when a flatten dough 202a is placed on the primary assembly conveyor 122a, and the intensity of the emitter may be decreased when the flatten dough 202a is confirmed to be properly situated on the primary assembly conveyor 122a. In some instances, a sensor 123 in the form of an imager placed at the beginning of the primary assembly conveyor 122a may identify a shape for a particular food item {e.g., full pizza, half pizza, pizza slice, calzone, etc.). In such instances, the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may process and assemble food items of different sizes and shapes. The imager type sensor 123 may be used to identify the location and orientation of each food item as it is placed on the primary assembly conveyor 122a so that sauce, cheese, and other toppings may be correctly placed on the food item as it transits the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102.

In some implementations, the one or more sensors 123 may be communicatively coupled with one or more of the self-propelled food preparation appliances, such as self-propelled food preparation appliances 130, 154, 156a, 156b, 170, 192, 199, and/or 201 . In such an implementation, the one or more sensors 123 may be part of a sensor that may be used to generate a signal indicating objects in a three-dimensional space surrounding one or more of the self-propelled food preparation appliances. In some implementations, each of the one or more sensors 123 may be physically coupled to a respective self-propelled food preparation appliance and provide signals indicating objects in the three- dimensional space surrounding the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance. Such signals may be used by the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance to move about the food preparation floor space 101 to a destination. In some implementations, the one or more sensors 123 may be physically coupled to a stationary object located on or proximate the food preparation floor space 101 . In such an implementation, the signals indicating objects in the three-dimensional space may be transmitted to the control system 104, for example, which may use the signals to determine a route for one or more of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to travel along a portion of the food preparation floor space 101 to a destination.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more sauce dispensers 130a, 130b (two shown in Figure 1 A, one shown in Figure 1 B to improve drawing clarity, collectively 130), for example positioned at a first work station 124a along the on-demand robotic food

preparation assembly line 102. As best illustrated in Figure 3A, the sauce dispensers 130 include a reservoir 302 to retain sauce, a nozzle 304 to dispense an amount of sauce 135 (Figure 1 B) and at least one valve 306 that is controlled by control signals via an actuator {e.g._^ solenoid, electric motor) 308 to selectively dispense the sauce 135 from the reservoir 302 via the nozzle 304. The reservoir 302 can optionally include a paddle, agitator, or other stirring mechanism to agitate the sauce stored in the reservoir 302 to prevent the ingredients of the sauce from separating or settling out. The reservoir 302 may include one or more sensors that provide measurements related to the amount of sauce remaining in a reservoir 302. Such measurements can be used to identify when the amount of sauce in the reservoir is running low and should be refilled. In some implementations, the refilling of the reservoir 302 with sauce may be performed automatically without operator intervention from one or more sauce holding containers located

elsewhere in the on-demand robotic food assembly line environment 100 that are fluidly coupled to the reservoirs 302.

In some implementations, the refilling or replenishing of the reservoir 302 may occur via the replenishment appliance 105. In some implementations, for example, the replenishment appliance 105 may receive a signal indicating the sauce in the reservoir 302 is below a defined threshold level. Detection may be based, for example, on any one or more of sensed height, weight, volume, and, or resistivity. In response, the replenishment appliance 105 may execute one or more instructions that cause the replenishment appliance 105 to travel over the food preparation floor space 101 to the sauce dispenser 130. Such instructions may be generated by another device, e.g., the control system 104, and transmitted to the replenishment appliance 105. In some implementations, the instructions may be generated by a processor-based control system located on the

replenishment appliance 105. Once the replenishment appliance 105 is located proximate the sauce dispenser 130, the replenishment appliance 105 may replenish the amount of sauce in the reservoir 302. Once the replenishing of the reservoir 302 is complete, the replenishment appliance 105 may move away from the sauce dispenser 130. In some implementations, the sauce dispenser 130 may be a self-propelled food preparation appliance. As such, the sauce dispenser 130 may execute one or more instructions to travel over the food preparation floor space 101 to the replenishment appliance 105 to replenish the amount of sauce in the reservoir 302.

The sauce dispenser 130 can optionally include a moveable arm 310 supported by a base 312, which allows positioning the nozzle 304 (Figure 3A) over the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a (Figure 1 B). The sauce dispenser 130 may have multiple different nozzles 304 that dispense sauce in different patterns. Such patterns may be based, for example, on the size of the pizza or other food item being sauced. Relatively smaller food items, such as personal pizzas, may be sauce with a nozzle 304 that creates a star shaped pattern whereas relatively larger food items, such as large or super-sized pizzas, may be sauced with a nozzle 304 that creates a spiral pattern. The sauce dispenser 130 may dispense a defined volume of sauce for each food item or size of food item being sauced. In some implementations, there may be one sauce dispenser 130 for each of one or more sauces. In the example of pizza assembly, there may be a sauce dispenser 130a (Figure 1 A) that selectively dispenses a tomato sauce, a sauce dispenser 130b (Figure 1 A) that selectively dispenses a white {e.g., bechamel) sauce, a sauce dispenser 130c (Figure 1 A) that dispensers a green {e.g., basil pesto) sauce.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more sauce spreader robots 140 and one or more imagers {e.g., cameras) 142 with suitable light sources 144 to capture images of the flatten dough with sauce 202b (Figure 1 B) for use in controlling the sauce spreader robot(s) 140. The sauce spreader robot(s) 140 may be positioned at a second work station 124b along the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102. The sauce spreader robot(s) 140 may be housed in a cage or cubicle 146 to prevent sauce splatter from contaminating other equipment. The cage or cubicle 146 may be stainless steel or other easily sanitized material, and may have clear or transparent windows 148 (only one called out).

The one or more imagers 142 may be used to perform quality control when making the flatten dough and/or when spreading the sauce by the one or more sauce spreader robots 140. In some implementations, the one or more imagers 142 may be programmed to differentiate between instances of flatten dough without sauce and instances of flatten dough with sauce. The one or more imagers 142 may further be programmed to detect the shape of the flatten dough and/or the pattern of the sauce spread onto the flatten dough from the captured images, and compare the detected shape and/or pattern against a set of acceptable shapes, patterns or other criteria. Such criteria for the shape of the flatten dough may include, for example, the approximate diameter of the flatten dough and the deviation of the flatten dough from a circular shape. Such criteria for the coverage of the sauce may include, for example, amount or percentage of the flatten dough covered by sauce, proximity of sauce to the outer edge of the flatten dough, and/or the shape of the annulus of crust between the outer edge of the sauce and the outer edge of the flatten dough. If the imager 142 detects a defective flatten dough or sauce pattern, it may transmit an alert to the control system 104, which may cause the defective product to be rejected and a new instance to be made. Such imagers 142 may capture and process black-and-white images in some instances {e.g., determining whether a flatten dough has sauce) or may capture color images. In some implementations, the primary assembly conveyor 122a may have a specific color to create a better contrast with the flatten dough and/or sauce. For example, the primary assembly conveyor 122a may be colored blue to create a better contrast with the flatten dough and/or sauce for the imager 142.

As described in more detail below, the sauce spreader robot 140 includes one or more appendages or arms 150, and a sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152. The appendages or arms 150 and a sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 are operable to spread sauce around the flatten round of dough. Various machine-vision techniques {e.g., blob analysis) are employed to detect the position and shape of the dough and/or to detect the position and shape of the sauce 202b on the dough 202a (Figure 1 B). One or more processors generate control signals based on the images to cause the appendages or arms 150 to move in defined patterns {e.g., spiral patterns) to cause the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 to spread the sauce evenly over the flatten round of dough while leaving a sufficient border proximate a perimeter of the flatten dough without sauce 202c (Figure 1 B). The sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 may rotate or spin while the

appendages or arms 150 to move in defined patterns, to replicate the manual application of sauce to flatten dough.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more cheese application robots 154a, 154b (two shown in Figure 1 A, one shown in Figure 1 B, collectively 154) to retrieve and dispense cheese of the sauced dough 202d (Figure 1 B). The cheese application robot(s) 154 can be located at a third work station 124c. In the example of pizza assembly, one or more cheese application robots 154 can retrieve cheese and dispense the cheese on the flatten and sauced dough. The cheese application robots 154 can retrieve cheese from one or more repositories of cheese 212. For example, there may be one cheese application robot 154 for each of one or more cheese. Alternatively, one cheese application robot 154 can retrieve and dispense more than one type of cheese, the cheese application robot 154 operable to select an amount of cheese from any of a plurality of cheese in the repositories of cheese 212. In the example of pizza assembly, there may be a cheese application robot 154a (Figure 1 A) that selectively dispenses a mozzarella cheese and a cheese application robot 154b (Figure 1 A) that selectively dispenses a goat cheese. The cheese application robots 154 can have various end effectors or end of arm tools designed to retrieve various cheeses. For example, some end effectors or end of arm tools can include opposable digits, while others take the form of a scoop or ladle, and still others a rake or fork having tines, or even others a spoon or cheese knife shape. The cheese application robot 154 may be covered by a top cover located vertically above some or all of the cheese application robots 154 and/or the one or more repositories of cheese 212. In some applications, the top cover may be located above arm of the cheese application robot 154 and/or the one or more repositories of cheese 212.

In some implementations, the cheese application robot 154 may be a self-propelled food preparation appliance that includes a propulsion subsystem 109 that is operable to move the cheese application robot 154 about the food preparation floor space 101 . In such an implementation, the cheese application robot 154 may move to different destinations within the food preparation floor space 101 , such as, for example, to one of the work stations 124 located along the assembly line 102. The movement of the cheese application robot 154 may enable the assembly line 102 to be used to prepare multiple types of food items by reconfiguring the types and order of the food preparation appliances located along the assembly line 102. The instructions to move the cheese application robot 154 may be generated by separate devices, such as, for example, the control system 104, and transmitted to the cheese application robot 154. Such instructions may include a route for the cheese application robot 154 to travel. The route

information may further include timing information {e.g., a delay before starting, or timed intermediary locations) to facilitate the movement of multiple self-propelled food preparation appliances along the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, some or all of the instructions to move the cheese application robot 154 may be generated by a processor-enabled control system located on the cheese application robot 154. For example, in some implementations, the cheese application robot 154 may receive a destination from the control system 104, and a processor-enabled control system located on the cheese application robot 154 may autonomously determine a route for the cheese application robot 154 to travel over the food preparation floor space 101 to reach the specified destination. In some implementations, such destinations may correspond to the cleaning appliance 107.

In some implementations, the repositories of cheese 212 may be a self-propelled food preparation appliance that includes a propulsion subsystem 109 that is operable to move the cheese application robot 154 about the food preparation floor space 101 . In such an implementation, the repositories of cheese 212 may move to different destinations within the food preparation floor space 101 , such as, for example, to one of the work stations 124 located along the assembly line 102. The movement of the repositories of cheese 212 may enable the assembly line 102 to be used to prepare multiple types of food items by

reconfiguring the types and order of the food preparation appliances located along the assembly line 102. For some types of food items, such as pizza, for example, cheese may be deposited on the food item before the food item is placed within the ovens 158 for cooking. For some other types of food items, such as cooked pasta, for example, cheese {e.g., grated parmesan) may be deposited on the food item after the food item has been cooked. The instructions to move the repositories of cheese 212 may be generated by separate devices, such as, for example, the control system 104, and transmitted to the repositories of cheese 212. Such instructions may include a route for the repositories of cheese 212 to travel. The route information may further include timing information {e.g., a delay before starting, or timed intermediary locations) to facilitate the movement of multiple self-propelled food preparation appliances along the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, some or all of the instructions to move the repositories of cheese 212 may be generated by a processor-enabled control system located on the repositories of cheese 212. For example, in some implementations, the repositories of cheese 212 may receive a destination from the control system 104, and a processor-enabled control system located on the repositories of cheese 212 may autonomously determine a route for the

repositories of cheese 212 to travel over the food preparation floor space 101 to reach the specified destination. In some implementations, such destinations may correspond to the cleaning appliance 107 and/or the replenishment appliance 105.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more toppings application robots 156a, 156b (two shown in Figure 1 A and two shown in Figure 1 B, collectively 156) to provide toppings. In one example involving pizza, one or more toppings application robots 156 can retrieve meat and/or non-meat toppings and dispense the toppings on the flatten, sauced and cheesed dough 202e. The toppings application robots 156 can retrieve toppings from one or more repositories of toppings 214. For example, there may be one respective toppings application robot 156a, 156b for each of one or more toppings. Alternatively or additionally, one toppings application robot 156, e.g., toppings application robot 156b, can dispense more than one type of toppings. In the example of pizza assembly, there may be a toppings application robot 156a that selectively retrieves and dispenses meat toppings {e.g., pepperoni, sausage, Canadian bacon) and a toppings application robot 156b that selectively dispenses non-meat toppings {e.g., mushrooms, olives, hot peppers). In some implementations, the toppings application robots 156 can have various end effectors or end of arm tools designed to retrieve various toppings. For example, some end effectors or end of arm tools can include opposable digits, while others take the form of a scoop or ladle, and still others a rake or fork having tines. In some instances, the end effector may include a suction tool that may be able to pick and place large items. In some instances, the toppings application robot 156 may include multiple end effectors or end of arm tools. The used of multiple end effectors or end of arm tools may facilitate coverage of toppings. In some implementations, the toppings application robot, such as toppings application robot 156b, may include one or more containers that are elevated above the food preparation assembly line 102. In such an implementation, the toppings

application robot 156b may deposit one or more toppings on the food item 202 by dropping the topping onto the food item 202 as the food item 202 is conveyed along the assembly conveyor 122. The toppings application robot 156 may be covered by a top cover located vertically above some or all of the toppings application robot 156 and/or the one or more repositories of toppings 214. In some applications, the top cover may be located above arm of the toppings application robot 156 and/or the one or more repositories of toppings 214. In some

implementations, one or more of the one or more repositories of toppings 214 may optionally include an individual conveyor portion that may be used to transport food items past the repositories of toppings 214.

In some implementations, the toppings application robots 156 may be self-propelled food preparation appliances that each includes a propulsion subsystem 109 that is operable to move the respective toppings application robot 156 about the food preparation floor space 101 . Any number of self-propelled food preparation appliances {e.g., two, three, or more) may be arranged along the food preparation assembly line 102. In some instances, the self-propelled food preparation appliances may be arranged sequentially along portions the food preparation assembly line 102. In some instances, the self-propelled food preparation appliances may be arranged adjacent to stationary food preparation appliances along the food preparation assembly line 102. In such an

implementation, the toppings application robots 156 may move to different destinations within the food preparation floor space 101 , such as, for example, to one of the work stations 124 located along the assembly line 102. The movement of the toppings application robots 156 may enable the assembly line 102 to be used to prepare multiple types of food items by reconfiguring the types and order of the food preparation appliances located along the assembly line 102. The instructions to move the toppings application robots 156 may be generated by separate devices, such as, for example, the control system 104, and transmitted to the toppings application robots 156. Such instructions may include a route for each respective toppings application robot 156 to travel. The route information may further include timing information {e.g., a delay before starting, or timed intermediary locations) to facilitate the movement of multiple self-propelled food preparation appliances along the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, some or all of the instructions to move the toppings application robots 156 may be generated by a processor-enabled control system located on each respective toppings application robot 156. For example, in some

implementations, a respective toppings application robot 156 may receive a destination from the control system 104, and a processor-enabled control system located on the respective toppings application robots 156 may autonomously determine a route for the respective toppings application robot 156 to travel over the food preparation floor space 101 to reach the specified destination. In some implementations, such destinations may correspond to the cleaning appliance 107 and/or the replenishment appliance 105.

In some implementations, the repositories of toppings 214 may be a self-propelled food preparation appliance that includes a propulsion subsystem 109 that is operable to move the cheese application robot 154 about the food preparation floor space 101 . In such an implementation, the repositories of toppings 214 may move to different destinations within the food preparation floor space 101 , such as, for example, to one of the work stations 124 located along the assembly line 102. The movement of the repositories of toppings 214 may enable the assembly line 102 to be used to prepare multiple types of food items by reconfiguring the types and order of the food preparation appliances located along the assembly line 102. For some types of food items, such as pizza, for example, cheese may be deposited on the food item before the food item is placed within the ovens 158 for cooking. For some other types of food items, such as cooked pasta, for example, cheese {e.g., grated parmesan) may be deposited on the food item after the food item has been cooked. The instructions to move the

repositories of toppings 214 may be generated by separate devices, such as, for example, the control system 104, and transmitted to the repositories of cheese 212. Such instructions may include a route for the repositories of toppings 214 to travel. The route information may further include timing information {e.g., a delay before starting, or timed intermediary locations) to facilitate the movement of multiple self-propelled food preparation appliances along the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, some or all of the instructions to move the repositories of toppings 214 may be generated by a processor-enabled control system located on the repositories of toppings 214. For example, in some implementations, the repositories of toppings 214 may receive a destination from the control system 104, and a processor-enabled control system located on the repositories of toppings 214 may autonomously determine a route for the repositories of toppings 214 to travel over the food preparation floor space 101 to reach the specified destination. In some implementations, such destinations may correspond to the cleaning appliance 107 and/or the replenishment appliance 105.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more imagers {e.g., cameras) 142 with suitable light sources 144 proximate to one or both of the cheese application robots 154 and the toppings application robots 156 to capture images of food items, such as pizzas, that have been processed with these toppings. The captured images may be used for quality control purposes, for example, to ensure that the cheese application robots 154 and/or the toppings application robots 156 sufficiently cover sauced dough 202d with the requested toppings.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more ovens 158a, 158b (two shown in Figure 1 B, collectively 158) to cook or partially cook food items {e.g., the flatten, sauced and cheesed dough 202e). In some implementations, the ovens 158 may be stationary food

preparation appliances that, in operation, remain in the same location on the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, the ovens 158 may be self- propelled food preparation appliances that may move through the food preparation floor space 101 . The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more cooking conveyors 160a, 160b to convey the food items {e.g., the flatten, sauced and cheesed dough 202e) to, through, and out of the ovens 158. The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may, for example, include a respective cooking conveyor 160a, 160b, for each of the ovens 158a, 158b. As best illustrated in Figure 1 B, the cooking conveyors 160 may, for example, take the form of grills or racks 163a, 163b that form a loop or belt that rides on various rollers or axles (not called out in Figures) driven by one or more motors (not called out in Figures) via one or more gears or teethed wheels (not called out in Figures). The grills or racks 163 or chains may be made of a food grade material that is able to withstand the heat of the ovens, for instance stainless steel. In the example of pizza assembly, the ovens 158 may produce a

temperature above 500 F, preferably in the 700 F and above range. The ovens 158 may optionally include a stone floor or cast iron floor. In some

implementations, the ovens 158 include electrically radiant elements. In some implementations, the ovens 158 take the form of air impingement ovens, including one or more blowers that blow extremely hot air, and optionally a rack with a manifold. In some implementations, the loadable units are refrigeration/oven units 102. The refrigeration/oven units 158 may include one or more Peltier

thermoelectric heater/coolers. The ovens or refrigeration/oven units 158 may include a thermally insulative barrier, preferably a Yttrium, Indium, Manganese, and Oxygen (YlnMn) barrier.

The ovens 158 will typically be at or proximate the same temperature, although such is not limiting. In some applications, the ovens 158 may be set a different temperatures from one another. In some applications, the ovens 158 a selectively adjustable on a per order basis. Thus, when ordering a pizza, a consumer or customer may specify an amount of charring desired on the partially cooked sauced, cheesed and topped dough 202f. A processor-based device can determine a desired temperature based on the specified amount of charring, and adjust a temperature of the oven 158 to achieve the desired amount of charring. The amount of charring may be based on the temperature and/or time spent trans versing the oven 158 on the respective cooking conveyor 160.

Typically, the cooking conveyors 160 will travel at a different speed than the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a. Hence, the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more first transfer conveyors 162a to transfer the uncooked food items {e.g., the flatten, sauced and cheesed dough 202e) from the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a to one of the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b. In the example of pizza assembly, the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b will likely travel at a much slower speed than the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a. Notably, while the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b will typically travel at the same speed as one another, such should not be considered limiting. In some applications, the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b can travel at different speeds from one another. In some applications, the speed at which each cooking conveyor 160a, 160b travels may be controlled to account for cooking conditions, environmental conditions, and/or the spacing or composition of uncooked food items {e.g., the flatten, sauced and cheesed dough 202e) being transported by the cooking conveyor 160a, 160b. For example, the first transfer conveyor 162a may place multiple uncooked food items {e.g., the flatten, sauced and cheesed dough 202e) close together on one cooking conveyor 160, the close spacing which may cause a reduction in the temperature of the associated oven 158 as the uncooked food items {e.g., the flatten, sauced and cheesed dough 202e) pass through. In such a situation, the speed of the one cooking conveyor 160 may be reduced, providing additional time for the uncooked food items 202e which are being cooked or par-based to reside in the oven 158. In some

applications, the first transfer conveyor 162a may leave additional space between adjacent uncooked food items 202e, which may enable the oven 158 to maintain a higher temperature. In such an application, the speed of the associated cooking conveyor 160 may need to be relatively faster to prevent the uncooked food item {e.g., the flatten, sauced and cheesed dough 202e) from being burned. Additional considerations, such as humidity, dough composition, or food/pizza type {e.g., thin crust pizza versus deep dish pizza) may be used to independently control the speeds for each of the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b. In some implementations, cooking may be controlled at an individual item by item level using an assembly line. Thus, a sequence of food items, for instance pizzas, may vary in constituents from item to item in the sequence. For instance, a first item may be a thin wheat crust cheese pizza, while a second item may be a thick wheat crust pizza loaded with four types of meat, while a third item may be a medium semolina crust pizza with mushrooms.

In some applications, the temperatures of the ovens 158a, 158b and/or the speed of the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b may be controlled by one or more processor-based devices executing processor-executable code based on temperature, humidity, or other conditions fed back to the processor-based devices. In some implementations, the temperature of the ovens 158a, 158b and/or the speed of the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b may be controlled by the operator via one or more controls {e.g., a touch-screen control, one or more knobs, a remote RF control, a networked Web-based control, etc.). The ovens 158a, 158b may be programmed to have a tight hysteresis control that prevents the ovens 158a, 158b from deviating too much from a set temperature, which may further impact the speed of each of the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b. A processor-based device can adjust a speed of travel of the first transfer conveyor 162a to accommodate for such differences in speed of the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b.

The first transfer conveyor 162a may be coupled to a first appendage 164a of a first transfer conveyor robot 166a as an end effector or end of arm tool. The first transfer conveyor robot 166a may be able to move the first transfer conveyor 162a with 6 degrees of freedom, for example as illustrated by a coordinate system 216a. The first appendage 164a can be first be operated to move the first transfer conveyor 162a proximate an end of the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a to retrieve sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten dough 202e from to first the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a. The first transfer conveyor 162a is preferably operated to move the grill, rack, chains 168a in a same direction and at least approximately same speed as a direction and speed at which the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a travels. This helps to prevent the flatten dough 202e from becoming elongated or oblong. The grill, rack, chains 168a of the first transfer conveyor 162a should be closely spaced to or proximate the end of the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a to prevent the sauced, cheesed and topped flatten dough 202e from drooping.

One or more wipers or scrapers 218 may be located towards the end of the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a proximate the first transfer conveyor 162a. The one or more wipers or scrapers 218 may stretch transversely across the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a to clean the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a of debris. The one or more wipers or scrapers 218 may, for example, have a blade shape, and may consist of a food grade material {e.g., silicone rubber, stainless steel) or may comprise two or more materials, with any portion that may contact food or a food handling surface comprised of a food grade material {e.g., silicone rubber, stainless steel). In some implementations, the one or more wipers or scrapers 218 may stretch across the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a at a diagonal with respect to the direction of travel of the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a to direct the debris off of the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a and towards a trash receptacle 220 placed to the side of the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a. In some implementations, the wipers or scrapers 218 may be located proximate the outside surface of the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a that carries the partially assembled food item 202a-202e. In some implementations, the wipers or scrapers 218 may be in contact with the outside surface of the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a.

The first appendage 164a can then be operated to move the first transfer conveyor 162a proximate a start of one of the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b. The grill, rack, chains 168a of the first transfer conveyor 162a are then operated to transfer the sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten dough 202e from the first transfer conveyor 162a to one of cooking conveyors 160a, 160b. The grill, rack, chains 168a may be coated with a non-stick coating {e.g., food grade PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) commonly available under the trademark TEFLON®, ceramics) to facilitate the transfer of the sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten dough 202e to one of cooking conveyors 160a, 160b. The first transfer conveyor 162a is preferably operated to move the grill, rack, chains 168a in a same direction and at least approximately same speed as a direction and speed at which the cooking conveyor 160a, 160b travels. This helps to prevent the flatten, sauced and cheesed dough 202e from becoming elongated or oblong. The first transfer conveyor 162a may have a short end-of-arm wall 222 that runs perpendicular to the direction of travel of the grill, rack, chains 168a. The short end-of-arm wall 222 may be attached to {e.g., by clipping onto) the end of the grill, rack, chains 168a opposite the end at which the first transfer conveyor 162a loads the flatten dough 202e onto the cooking conveyor 160a, 160b. The short end-of-arm wall 222 may be attached via fast release fasteners or clips, allowing easy removal for cleaning or replacement. The grill, rack, chains 168a of the first transfer conveyor 162a should be closely spaced or proximate the start of the cooking conveyor 160a, 160b to prevent the sauced, cheesed and topped flatten dough 202e from drooping.

The use of multiple ovens 158a, 158b and cooking conveyors 160a,

160b per first or primary assembly conveyor 122a helps eliminate any backlog that might otherwise occur due to the difference in operating speeds between the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a and the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b. In particular, the first appendage 164a can alternately move between two or more cooking conveyors 160a, 160b for each successive round of sauced, cheesed, topped flatten dough 202e. This allows the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a to operate at relatively high speed, with rounds of flatten dough 202e relatively closely spaced together, while still allowing sufficient time for the sauced, cheesed and topped flatten dough 202e to pass through the respective ovens 158a, 158b to "par-bake" the sauced, cheesed and topped flatten dough 202e to produce par-baked shell 202g, thereby establishing a higher level of rigidity than associated with completely uncooked dough. The higher level of rigidity eases downstream handling requirements in the workflow.

One or more by-pass conveyors 160c may run parallel to the two or more cooking conveyors 160a, 160b to by-pass the multiple ovens 158a, 158b. The by-pass conveyors 160c may be used, for example, when a previously par- baked shell 202g has gone through the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a to receive additional sauce or toppings. The previously par-baked shell 202g may be sufficiently rigid from the previous par-bake procedure that it need not go through the par-bake procedure a second time. The first appendage 164a of the first transfer conveyor 162a can move between the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a and the one or more by-pass conveyors 160c to transfer the previously par- baked shells 202g or other food items. The one or more by-pass conveyors 160c may travel and transport food items at a different speed than the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b. For example, the one or more by-pass conveyors 160c may move faster than the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b, thereby quickly transporting the par-baked shells 202g, which need not be cooked within the ovens 158a, 158b, between the first transfer conveyor 162a and the second transfer conveyor 162b.

In some implementations, one or both of the first transfer conveyor 162a and the second transfer conveyor 162b (collectively, 162) may be self- propelled food preparation appliances that each include a propulsion subsystem 109 that is operable to move the respective transfer conveyor 162 about the food preparation floor space 101 . In such an implementation, the transfer conveyor 162 may move to different destinations within the food preparation floor space 101 , such as, for example, at one end of the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b, and/or the transfer conveyor 160c. The movement of the transfer conveyor 162 may enable the assembly line 102 to be reconfigured based, for example, upon the type of food item that is being prepared. The instructions to move the transfer conveyor 162 may be generated by separate devices, such as, for example, the control system 104, and transmitted to the transfer conveyor 162. Such instructions may include a route for the transfer conveyor 162 to travel. The route information may further include timing information {e.g., a delay before starting, or timed

intermediary locations) to facilitate the movement of multiple self-propelled food preparation appliances along the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, some or all of the instructions to move the transfer conveyor 162 may be generated by a processor-enabled control system located on the transfer conveyor 162. For example, in some implementations, the transfer conveyor 162 may receive a destination from the control system 104, and a processor-enabled control system located on the transfer conveyor 162 may autonomously determine a route for the transfer conveyor 162 to travel over the food preparation floor space 101 to reach the specified destination. In some implementations, such

destinations may correspond to the cleaning appliance 107. The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b to transfer cooked or partially cooked food items 202f past a number of work stations 124h, 124i, 124j. As illustrated in Figure 1 B, the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b may, for example may, for example, take the form of a food grade conveyor belt 204b that rides on various axles or rollers 206b driven by one or more motors 208b via one or more gears or teethed wheels 210b.

Typically, the second or secondary assembly conveyor 122b will travel at a different speed than the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b. Hence, on- demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more second transfer conveyors 162b to transfer the cooked or partially cooked food items 202f from the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b to the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b. In the example of pizza assembly, the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b will likely travel at a much slower speed than the second or secondary assembly conveyor 122b. Notably, while the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b will typically travel at the same speed as one another, such should not be considered limiting. In some applications, the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b can travel at different speeds from one another. A processor-based device can adjust a speed of travel of the second transfer conveyor 1 62b to accommodate for such differences in speed of the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b.

The second transfer conveyor 162b may be coupled to a second appendage 164b of a second transfer conveyor robot 166b as an end effector or end of arm tool. The second transfer conveyor robot 166b may be able to move the second transfer conveyor 162b with 6 degrees of freedom, for example as illustrated by a coordinate system 216b. The second appendage 164b can be first be operated to move the second transfer conveyor 162b proximate an end of one of the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b to retrieve sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f from the cooking conveyor 160a, 160b. The second transfer conveyor 162b is preferably operated to move the grill, rack, chains or belt 168b in a same direction and at least approximately same speed as a direction and speed at which the cooking conveyor 160a, 160b travels.

The second appendage 164b can then be operated to move the second transfer conveyor 162b proximate a start of the second or secondary assembly conveyor 122b. The belt, grill, rack, or chains 168b of the second transfer conveyor 162b are then operated to transfer the sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f to the second or secondary assembly conveyor(s) 122b. The grill, rack, chains 168b may be coated with a non-stick coating {e.g., food grade PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) commonly available under the trademark TEFLON®, ceramics) to facilitate the transfer of the sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f to the second or secondary assembly conveyor(s) 122b. The second transfer conveyor 162b is preferably operated to move the belt, grill, rack, or chains 168b in a same direction and at least approximately same speed as a direction and speed at which belt 204b of the second or secondary assembly conveyor 122b travels. The second transfer conveyor 162b may have a short end-of-arm wall 222 that runs perpendicular to the direction of travel of the grill, rack, chains 168b. The short end-or-arm wall may be attached to {e.g., clipped onto) the end of the grill, rack, chains 168b opposite the end at which the second transfer conveyor 162b loads the partially cooked dough 202f from the cooking conveyor 160a, 160b.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more packaging robots 170. The packaging robot(s) 170 include one or more appendages 172 with one or more end effectors or end of arm tools 174. The end effectors or end of arm tools 174 are designed to retrieve packaging 176, for instance from a stack. The packaging may, for example, take the form of molded fiber bottom plates and domed covers, such as that described in U.S. provisional patent application Serial No. 62/31 1 ,787; U.S. patent application Serial No. 29/558,872; U.S. patent application Serial No. 29/558,873; and U.S. patent application Serial No. 29/558,874. The packaging robot(s) 170 retrieve and move the packaging 176 {e.g., bottom plates or trays) onto the second or secondary assembly conveyor 122b, onto which the sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f is placed via the second transfer conveyor 162b.

In some implementations, the packaging robot(s) 170 may be a self- propelled food preparation appliance that includes a propulsion subsystem 109 that is operable to move the packaging robot(s) 170 about the food preparation floor space 101 . In such an implementation, the packaging robot(s) 170 may move to different destinations within the food preparation floor space 101 , such as, for example, to one of the work stations 124 located along the assembly line 102. The movement of the packaging robot(s) 170 may enable the assembly line 102 to be reconfigured to prepare multiple types of food items. The instructions to move the packaging robot(s) 170 may be generated by separate devices, such as, for example, the control system 104, and transmitted to the packaging robot(s) 170. Such instructions may include a route for the packaging robot(s) 170 to travel. The route information may further include timing information {e.g., a delay before starting, or timed intermediary locations) to facilitate the movement of multiple self- propelled food preparation appliances along the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, some or all of the instructions to move the packaging robot(s) 170 may be generated by a processor-enabled control system located on the packaging robot(s) 170. For example, in some implementations, the packaging robot(s) 170 may receive a destination from the control system 104, and the processor-enabled control system located on the packaging robot(s) 170 may autonomously determine a route for the packaging robot(s) 170 to travel over the food preparation floor space 101 to reach the specified destination.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more cutters or cutter robots 178. In some implementations, the cutter robots 178 may be stationary food preparation appliances that, in operation, remain in the same location on the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, the cutter robots 178 may be self-propelled food preparation appliances that may move through the food preparation floor space 101 . The cutters or cutter robots 178 may include a set of blades 180, an actuator 182 {e.g., solenoid, electric motor, pneumatic piston), a drive shaft 184, and one or more bushings 186. The actuator 182 moves the blades 180 up and down, to cut the sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f, while the sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f sits on a bottom plate or tray of the packaging 176. The bushings 186 restrain the travel of the drive shaft 184, for example, to vertical motion. The one or more cutters or cutter robots 178 may, for example, be a cutter such as that described in U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/394,063, titled "CUTTER WITH RADIALLY DISPOSED BLADES," filed on September 13, 2016. A cutting support tray 188 may underline the packaging 176. The cutting support tray 188 may include a set of cutting groove that accommodate corresponding cutting grooves in the packaging 176, preventing the packaging 176 from being cut was the blades 180 cut the sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f. Where a cutting support tray 188 is employed, a robot {e.g., packaging robot 170) may position the cutting support tray 188 at the start of the second or secondary assembly conveyor 122b, then position the packaging 176 on the cutting support tray 188. The packaging robot 170 may position the cutting support tray 188 and packaging 176 such that the second transfer conveyor 162b deposits the sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f on the packaging 176 supported by the cutting support tray 188.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more loading robots 192, with one or more appendages 194 and end effectors or end of arm tools 196. The loading robots 192 can retrieve and load the packaged sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f into ovens 197, for instance via a door 198 of the oven 197. The end of arm tools 196 may be coated with a non-stick, food-grade coating to facilitate the transfer of the sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f into ovens 197. In some applications, the end of arm tools 196 may include a flexible appendage, sized and shaped to be similar to a human finger, that can be used to open and close the doors to the ovens 197. In some applications, the end of arm tools 196 may include a sensor or imager {e.g., a camera) that can be used to confirm that the oven 197 into which the packaged sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f is to be loaded is empty, and/or that the door to the oven 197 is open. The ovens 197 may be pre-mounted or pre- installed in a rack 199. The rack 199 may have wheels or casters, and is loadable into a vehicle (not shown), for dispatch to delivery destinations.

In some implementations, the loading robots 192 may be a self- propelled food preparation appliance that includes a propulsion subsystem 109 that is operable to move the loading robots 192 about the food preparation floor space 101 . In such an implementation, the loading robots 192 may move to different destinations within the food preparation floor space 101 , such as, for example, to one of the work stations 124 located along the assembly line 102. The movement of the loading robots 192 may enable the assembly line 102 to be reconfigured to prepare multiple types of food items. The instructions to move the loading robots 192 may be generated by separate devices, such as, for example, the control system 104, and transmitted to the loading robots 192. Such

instructions may include a route for the loading robots 192 to travel. The route information may further include timing information {e.g., a delay before starting, or timed intermediary locations) to facilitate the movement of multiple self-propelled food preparation appliances along the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, some or all of the instructions to move the loading robots 192 may be generated by a processor-enabled control system located on the loading robots 192. For example, in some implementations, the loading robots 192 may receive a destination from the control system 104, and the processor-enabled control system located on the loading robots 192 may autonomously determine a route for the loading robots 192 to travel over the food preparation floor space 101 to reach the specified destination.

Where used for food handling and preparation, it may be advantageous to employ one or more sleeves to isolate various robots,

appendages, or portions {e.g., motors, linkages, gears, transmissions) thereof from the environment. For example, the robots, appendages, or portions thereof may be covered by one or more sleeves. The sleeves are preferably formed of a food grade material {e.g., silicone) and may be single use items, or may be able to withstand multiple cleaning cycles using any one or more of a variety of cleaning protocols, including detergent, ultra-violet light, heat, steam, etc. The use of sleeves not only protects the food being prepared, but also eliminates the need to clean the parts of the robots, appendages, or portions thereof, which might otherwise be time consuming and expensive.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more position sensors or detectors spaced therealong to track the position or location of individual food items 202 as they transit the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102. Position sensors or detectors can take a variety of forms, for example: mechanical position encoders or optical position encoders such as rotary encoders, optical emitter and receivers pairs that pass a beam of light {e.g., infrared light) across a conveyor, commonly referred to as an "electric eye", ultrasonic position detectors, digital cameras, Hall effect sensors, magnetic or electromagnetic radiation {e.g., infrared light) proximity sensors, etc.

The proximity sensors or detectors can be positioned with respect to and communicatively coupled to individual pieces of equipment. For example, one or more proximity sensors or detectors can be positioned just upstream of the sauce dispenser(s), to provide a signal indicative of a passage of flatten dough 202a. Based on a known distance between the proximity sensor or detector and the sauce dispenser 130 and based on a known or measured speed of the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a, a processor-based system can determine when the flatten dough 202a will be aligned with the sauce dispenser 130, and trigger the dispensing of sauce on the flatten dough 202a. Likewise, other proximity sensors or detectors can be positioned just upstream or downstream of other pieces of equipment. For example, the proximity sensors or detectors can be positioned at the beginning of the primary assembly conveyor 122a a round of dough or flatten dough 202a is initially loaded. The signals of the proximity sensors or detectors can be used to confirm that the round of dough or flatten dough 202a was properly loaded proximate the center of the width of the primary assembly conveyor 122a. In some implementations, the proximity sensors or detectors can be communicatively coupled to control the respective pieces of equipment via the order assembly control systems 106.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may be used to create par-baked shells 202g that comprise sauced, topped flatten and partially cooked dough that includes no further toppings. Such an on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more sauce dispensers 130, one or more sauce spreader robots 140, and one or more ovens 158a, 158b, each of which operates as described above. In some

implementations, the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include only those components needed to produce the par-baked shells 202g without toppings. In some implementations, the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include other components, such as cheese application robots 154 and/or toppings application robots 156, that the materials to be made into a par-baked shell 202g may by-pass {e.g., by traveling on a separate by-pass conveyor to these work stations, or by passing under the work stations without having any cheese or other toppings dispensed). In some applications, the speed of the conveyors 122 may vary based on the food item 202 being

transported. For example, par-baked shells 202g may be transported along conveyors 122 traveling at a relatively high speed, whereas sauced and cheesed dough 202e that has topping may be transported along conveyors 122 traveling at a relatively slow speed to prevent the toppings and/or cheese from flying off. Each type of pizza may have a "line speed" that represents the maximum speed that the assembly conveyor 122 may travel when transporting that type of pizza. In some applications, the speed of each assembly conveyor 122 may be no greater than the slowest "line speed" for each pizza or other food item currently on that conveyor 122. In some instances, the speed of the assembly conveyors 122 may vary based upon the loading or transfer time, for example, of the first transfer conveyor 162a, second transfer conveyor 162b, and/or the loading robots 192.

The on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more loading robots 192, as described above, that may load the resulting par-baked shells 202g into a speed rack 201 . The speed rack 201 may include a plurality of slots 201 a arranged along multiple columns and rows, each of which is sized and shaped to hold a par-baked shell 202g. In some

implementations, the speed rack 201 may be a refrigerated enclosure such that the par-baked shells 202g, or other items loaded into each of the slots, are kept refrigerated to thereby preserve the freshness and extend the shelf-life of the par- baked shells 202g. In some implementations, the speed rack 201 may have wheels or casters, to enable the speed rack 201 to be loaded into a vehicle (not shown), for further processing and dispatch to delivery destinations. The wheels may optionally be driven by one or more electric motors via one or more drive trains.

In some implementations, the par-baked shells 202g may be retrieved from the speed rack 201 to proceed a second time through the on- demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102. The previously processed par-baked shells 202g can be re-sauced, topped with fresh cheese and other toppings, and placed on a by-pass conveyor 160c to by-pass the ovens 158a, 158b and the par-bake process. The par-baked shells 202g with fresh toppings may be placed on the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b to be sliced by the cutter robots 178 and/or packaged by the packaging robot 170. In some implementations, one or more of the racks 1 99 and/or the speed racks 201 may be self-propelled food preparation appliances that each includes a propulsion subsystem 109 that is operable to move the respective rack 199 or speed rack 201 about the food preparation floor space 101 . In such an implementation, the racks 199 and/or the speed racks 201 may move to different destinations within the food preparation floor space 101 , such as, for example, to the beginning or end of the assembly line 102. The movement of the loading robots 192 may enable the assembly line 102 to be supplied with fresh food items 202 that are to be prepared or to store the hot, prepared food items 202 after the food items 202 have been processed along the assembly line 102. The

instructions to move the racks 199 and/or the speed racks 201 may be generated by separate devices, such as, for example, the control system 104, and

transmitted to the respective racks 199 or the speed racks 201 . Such instructions may include a route for the respective rack 199 or speed rack 201 to travel. The route information may further include timing information {e.g., a delay before starting, or timed intermediary locations) to facilitate the movement of multiple self- propelled food preparation appliances along the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, some or all of the instructions to move the racks 199 and/or the speed racks 201 may be generated by a processor-enabled control system located on the respective rack 199 or speed rack 201 . For example, in some implementations, the racks 199 and/or the speed racks 201 may receive a destination from the control system 104, and a processor-enabled control system located on the racks 199 and/or the speed racks 201 may autonomously determine a route for the respective rack 199 or the speed rack 201 to travel over the food preparation floor space 101 to reach the specified destination, such as, for example the beginning or end of the assembly line 202, a storage area, or a loading area at which the hot, prepared food items 202 may be loaded onto a food delivery vehicle. Figures 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D show different types of self-propelled food preparation appliances 240a, 240b, 240c, and 240d, respectively (collectively, self-propelled food preparation appliance 240). The self-propelled food

preparation appliances 240 may include a propulsion subsystem 242, a

communications subsystem 244, a food preparation appliance control system 246, a power subsystem 260, a piece of food preparation equipment 248, and a sensor 123 {e.g., imagers, cameras, video cameras, frame grabbers, radar source and sensor, Lidar source and sensor, ultrasonic source and sensors, mechanical position encoders or optical position encoders such as rotary encoders, optical emitter and receivers pairs that pass a beam of light {e.g., infrared light source and sensor) across a conveyor, commonly referred to as an "electric eye", ultrasonic position detectors, digital cameras, Hall effect sensors, load cells, magnetic or electromagnetic radiation {e.g., infrared light)based proximity sensors). In some implementations, the piece of food preparation equipment 248 may include an ingredient dispensing section, such as shown in the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240a in Figure 2A {e.g., carousel-type dispenser 240a with multiple ingredient canisters 252), and the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240b and 240c shown in Figure 2B and Figure 2C, respectively {e.g., a picker assembly 254). In some implementations, the piece of food preparation equipment 248 may include a food storage portion 256 as shown in the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240d shown in Figure 2D.

In some implementations, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 may include a food storage portion 256 that may be used to hold one or more types of food items within one or more food storage container 258, such as shown in the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240d. In some implementations, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240d that includes the food storage container(s) 258 may be located along the assembly line 102 proximate one or more of the self-propelled food preparation appliances and/or stationary food preparation appliances that pick and place ingredients onto a food item 202 {e.g., self-propelled food preparation appliances 240b, 240c that include the picker assembly 254). Such an implementation may advantageously enable the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240d with the food storage portion 256 to be swapped out to replenish the supply of food ingredients contained in one or more of the food containers 258 and/or to provide all new food ingredients, such as may occur when a new food item 202 is being prepared along the assembly line 102.

The propulsion subsystem 242 may include a motor 262 and one or more of a set of wheels 264 (Figures 2B and 2C) or a set of treads 266 (Figure 2A). In some implementations, the motor 262 may include or be coupled to a power source, such as a battery, that may be located on the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240. Such a power source may be re-chargeable such that the propulsion subsystem 242, and in some implementations, the remaining portions of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240, may operate for a period of time using the re-chargeable power source {e.g., secondary battery, super- or ultra-capacitors, fuel cells). The motor 262 may be drivingly coupled to one or more axles that may be attached to a wheel in the set of wheels 264 and/or to one or more of the rollers 268 that move one or more of the treads in the set of treads 266. The set of wheels 264 may be comprised of one or more wheels 264. The set of treads 266 may be comprised of one or more treads 266. In some implementations, the set of wheels 264 may be further mechanically coupled to a steering sub-component that may be used to change or modify the direction of travel of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240, such as, for example, by changing the direction at which one or more of the wheels 264 in the set of wheels 264 faces. In some implementations, the direction of travel for a self- propelled food preparation appliance, such as 240a, that includes a set of treads 266 may be changed or modified by modifying the relative speed and/or direction at which each of the treads 266 in the set of treads 266 travels. As such, the propulsion subsystem 242 may operably move the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 about the food preparation floor space 101 .

The communications subsystem 244 may include a network interface 270 and an antenna 272. The network interface 270 may provide bi-directional communicative coupling to other systems {e.g., a system external to the self- propelled food preparation appliance 240) via one or more wireless network or wireless non-network communication channel(s). Network interface 270 includes circuitry, and in some implementations, may be a radio. Network interface 270 may use a communication protocols {e.g., FTP, HTTP, Web Services, and SOAP with XML) to effect bidirectional communication of information including processor- readable data, and processor-executable instructions. The antenna 272 may be used to wirelessly transmit and/or receive information for the communications subsystem 244.

The food preparation appliance control system 246 may take the form of any current or future developed computing system capable of executing one or more instruction sets. As discussed in more detail below, the food preparation appliance control system 246 includes a processing unit, a system memory and a system bus that communicably couples various system

components including the system memory to the processing unit. The food preparation appliance control system 246 will at times be referred to in the singular herein, but this is not intended to limit the embodiments to a single system, since in certain embodiments, there will be more than one system or other networked computing device involved. Non-limiting examples of commercially available systems include, but are not limited to, an Atom, Pentium, or 80x86 architecture microprocessor as offered by Intel Corporation, a Snapdragon processor as offered by Qualcomm, Inc., a PowerPC microprocessor as offered by IBM, a Sparc microprocessor as offered by Sun Microsystems, Inc., a PA-RISC series

microprocessor as offered by Hewlett-Packard Company, an A6 or A8 series processor as offered by Apple Inc., or a 68xxx series microprocessor as offered by Motorola Corporation. In some implementations, the food preparation appliance control system 246 and the communications subsystem 244 may be part of one integral unit.

The sensor 123 {e.g., imagers, cameras, video cameras, frame grabbers, radar source and sensor, Lidar source and sensor, ultrasonic source and sensors, mechanical position encoders or optical position encoders such as rotary encoders, optical emitter and receivers pairs that pass a beam of light {e.g., infrared light source and sensor) across a conveyor, commonly referred to as an "electric eye", ultrasonic position detectors, digital cameras, Hall effect sensors, load cells, magnetic or electromagnetic radiation {e.g., infrared light)based proximity sensors) may provide signals indicating objects in the three-dimensional space surrounding the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance. The sensor 123 may be communicatively coupled to the food preparation appliance control system 246 such that the sensor 123 may transmit such signals to the food preparation appliance control system 246. The food preparation appliance control system 246 may use such signals to determine a route for the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 to travel as a unit about the food preparation floor space 101 to a destination. The food preparation appliance control system 246 may use such signals to detect objects, such as other self-propelled food preparation appliances 240, that may be blocking the determined route. The food preparation appliance control system 246 may use this information to recalculate the route and thereby avoid a collision. The sensor 123 may be comprised, for example, of a Lidar system, a stereo vision system, a radar system, a computer vision system, or an imager.

The power subsystem 260 may include one or more interfaces 261 , for example electrical power outlets 261 a, one or more power plugs 261 b, inductive coupling components 261 c, and a storage component {e.g., a battery) (not shown) and associated circuitry (not shown). The electrical power outlets 261 a may be comprised of a female electrical connector that may engage with a corresponding male electrical connector to thereby provide an electrical coupling. The electrical power plugs 261 b may be comprised of one or more of such corresponding male connectors. Such electrical power plugs 261 b may

engagingly mate with corresponding electrical power outlets 261 a located on other self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 and/or with corresponding electrical power outlets located along or proximate the food preparation floor space 101 {e.g., electrical power supply outlets 121 ). In some implementations, a plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 may be electrically coupled through various electrical power outlets 261 a and electrical power plugs 261 b or inductive interfaces 261 c {e.g., inductor coils). As such, in some implementations, power may be provided to each of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 from power stored in one or more batteries. In some

implementations, one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 may be electrically coupled to an outside power source {e.g., electrical power supply outlet 121 ), and such outside power source may provide power for each of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances 240.

Figure 2A shows a self-propelled food preparation appliance 240a that includes a carousel 250 as the piece of food preparation equipment 248. The self-propelled food preparation appliance 240a may include a base 274 that contains the propulsion subsystem 242 and a vertical support 276 that attaches to and extends from the base 274 along a length 275 to the carousel 250. The length 275 of the vertical support 276 may be sufficient to elevate the carousel 250 over a portion of the food preparation assembly line 102 such that the carousel 250 may deposit ingredients onto food items 202 that are being conveyed under the carousel 250. During operation, some or all of the base 274 of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240a may be located beneath the conveyor 122 of the food preparation assembly line 102.

The vertical support 276 may be physically coupled to the carousel 250 via a curved guard piece 278 that is sized and shaped to receive a portion of the carousel 250. In some implementations, the carousel 250 may have a track 280 that extends at least partially around a side wall of the carousel. The track 280 may attach to a ridge or similar projection from an interior wall of the curved guard piece 278 to support the carousel 250 in an elevated position over the base 274. In some implementations, the carousel 250 is drivingly coupled to a motor (not shown) that selectively rotates the carousel 250 about an axis of rotation 282 that extends vertical from a center portion of the carousel 250. The self-propelled food preparation appliance 240a may selectively, operably rotate the carousel 250 to deposit the different food items that are contained within each of the respective ingredient canisters 252.

In some implementations, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240a may be assigned a location along food preparation assembly line 102. As such, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240a may include one or more instructions, that when executed by the processor in the food preparation appliance control system 246, cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240a to automatically perform a function. In such an implementation, the performing of the function may be based upon a timing signal and/or a signal generated by one or more sensors 123. In some implementations, the self- propelled food preparation appliance 240a may include a motion plan that may be stored within the memory of the food preparation appliance control system 246. Such a motion plan, when executed by the processor in the food preparation appliance control system 246, may cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240a to perform a series of movements, e.g., movements of an appendage or tool of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240a.

Figure 2B shows a self-propelled food preparation appliance 240b that includes a picker assembly 254 as the piece of food preparation equipment 248. Such a picker assembly 254 may be used, for example, as a cheese application robot 154 and/or a toppings application robot 156. The self-propelled food preparation appliance 240b may include a base 286 that contains the propulsion subsystem 242 and a vertical housing 288 that attaches to and extends from the base 286 along a height 290 to the picker assembly 254. The vertical housing 288 may house one or more of the propulsion subsystem 242, the communications subsystem 244, and/or the food preparation appliance control system 246. The height 290 of the vertical housing 288 may be sufficient to elevate the picker assembly 254 into a position to access food items 202 that are being conveyed via a food preparation assembly line 102. During operation, some or all of the base 286 of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240b may be located proximate the food preparation assembly line 102.

The vertical housing 288 may be physically coupled to the picker assembly 254 via a rotatable platform 292 that is sized and shaped to support the picker assembly 254. The rotatable platform 292 may rotate about a first axis of rotation 294 that extends vertically from the picker assembly 254, and in some implementations, the picker assembly 254 may rotate about a second axis of rotation 296 that extends laterally from the picker assembly 254. In some implementations, the picker assembly 254 may include one or more arms 298 that are operably coupled to one or more actuators (not shown) that move the arms 298 of the picker assembly 254 between a retracted position and an extended position. Such an extended position may be used in some situations to retrieve cheese or other toppings from a container, and such an extended position may be used in some other situations to deposit the cheese or other toppings onto a food item 202 that is being conveyed by the picker assembly 254 on the food

preparation assembly line 102. The picker assembly 254 may have a pair of opposable digits 299 that may be operable to pick up the cheese or other toppings.

In some implementations, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240b may be assigned a location along food preparation assembly line 102. As such, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240b may include one or more instructions, that when executed by the processor in the food preparation appliance control system 246, cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240b to automatically perform a function. In such an implementation, the performing of the function may be based upon a timing signal and/or a signal generated by one or more sensors 123. In some implementations, the self- propelled food preparation appliance 240b may include a motion plan that may be stored within the memory of the food preparation appliance control system 246. Such a motion plan, when executed by the processor in the food preparation appliance control system 246, may cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240b to perform a series of movements, e.g., movements of an appendage or tool of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240b.

Figure 2C shows a self-propelled food preparation appliance 240c that includes a picker assembly 254 as the piece of food preparation equipment 248, similar to the picker assembly 254 shown in Figure 2B. The self-propelled food preparation appliance 240c may further include an individual conveyor belt 284 that is attached to a pedestal 285, which is attached to the base 274. The individual conveyor belt 284 may extend across a width 251 of the base 274, from a first side 253 to an opposing second side 255 of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240c. The pedestal 285 may elevate the individual conveyor belt 284 such that a top surface 287 of the individual conveyor belt 284 is the same height as other conveyors 122 within the food preparation assembly line 102. As such, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 may be located within the food preparation floor space 101 such that the individual conveyor belt 284 of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 aligns with other adjacent conveyors 122 along the food preparation assembly line 102. In such an implementation, the individual conveyor belt 284 of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 may thereby form a portion of the food preparation assembly line 102. In some implementations, multiple self-propelled food preparation appliances 240, each with a respective individual conveyor belt 284, may be arranged along the food preparation assembly line 102 to thereby align each of the individual conveyor belts 284. In such an implementation, each of the individual conveyor belts 284 may form a portion of the food preparation assembly line 102.

In some implementations, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240c may be assigned a location along food preparation assembly line 102. As such, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240c may include one or more instructions, that when executed by the processor in the food preparation appliance control system 246, cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240c to automatically perform a function. In such an implementation, the performing of the function may be based upon a timing signal and/or a signal generated by one or more sensors 123. In some implementations, the self- propelled food preparation appliance 240c may include a motion plan that may be stored within the memory of the food preparation appliance control system 246. Such a motion plan, when executed by the processor in the food preparation appliance control system 246, may cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240c to perform a series of movements, e.g., movements of an appendage or tool of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240c.

Figure 2D shows a self-propelled food preparation appliance 240d that includes a food storage portion 256 as the piece of food preparation

equipment 248. The food storage portion 256 may include one or more food storage container 258 that may be used to store one or more food items, such as cheese, toppings, or other ingredients. Such food storage portion 256 may be located proximate a picker assembly 254, for example, thereby providing ingredients and food items for the picker assembly 254 to access during a food preparation operation. Such an implementation advantageously enables the self- propelled food preparation appliance 240d that includes the food storage container 258 to be controlled and moved separately from the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240b or 240c that include the picker assembly 254. In some

implementations, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240d may include one or more heat sources that may be used to keep the ingredients stored in the storage containers 258 warm. In some implementations, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240d may include a fuel coupling interface 269 that may be securely, physically coupleable with a fuel supply via, for example, one or more of the fuel supply connections 1 13.

In some implementations, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240d may be assigned a location along food preparation assembly line 102. As such, the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240d may include one or more instructions, that when executed by the processor in the food preparation appliance control system 246, cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240d to automatically perform a function. In such an implementation, the performing of the function may be based upon a timing signal and/or a signal generated by one or more sensors 123. In some implementations, the self- propelled food preparation appliance 240d may include a motion plan that may be stored within the memory of the food preparation appliance control system 246. Such a motion plan, when executed by the processor in the food preparation appliance control system 246, may cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240d to perform a series of movements, e.g., movements of an appendage or tool of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240d.

Figure 2E and 2F show a stationary fluid-based cleaning appliance 107a and a self-propelled fluid-based cleaning appliance 107b, respectively (collectively, fluid-based cleaning appliance 107). The fluid-based cleaning appliance 107 may include one or more interior side walls 231 and a top 233 that form an interior cavity 235. The interior cavity 235 may have a height 237, a width 239, and a length 241 that are sufficient to surround food preparation appliances. The interior cavity 235 may include any one or more of: one or more nozzles 243 or nebulizers that may be used to direct a flow of cleaning fluid {e.g., water, a saline solution, water with soap, bleach, chlorine dioxide, peracetic acid, or other disinfectant liquid or gas), one or more ozonizers to direct ozone, and, or one or more ultraviolet (UV) light sources to direct light towards a center portion of the interior cavity 235. In some implementations, the cleaning fluid may exit the one or more nozzles under pressure to facilitate the removal of food, debris, and other objects from the appliance being cleaned. In some implementations, the fluid- based cleaning appliance 107 may apply multiple cycles of different fluids to the appliance being cleaned. For example, the fluid-based cleaning appliance 107 may initially apply a cycle of soapy water to the object being cleaned, to be followed by a cycle of water to remove any remaining soap from the object being cleaned.

In some implementations, the fluid-based cleaning appliances 107 may include one or more brushes or pads 263. Such brushes or pads 263 may be used during a cleaning procedure to remove food items and other articles from the fluid-based cleaning appliances 107. In some implementations, one or more of the brushes or pads 263 may be attached to one or more rods that may extend outward towards the center portion of the interior cavity 235 to thereby make contact with a food preparation appliance during a cleaning procedure. The one or more brushes or pads 263 may be stored within one or more storage areas, such as, for example, small storage areas 263a that form recesses within one or more of the side walls 231 and/or the top 233 of the fluid-based cleaning appliance 107. In some implementations, the brushes or pads 263 may be comprised of one or more of wire-like bristles, cloth strips, sponges, steel wool, or any other type of material or surface used to clean food preparation surfaces.

The stationary fluid-based cleaning appliance 107a may include a base 245 located proximate the floor, ground, or other surface upon which the stationary fluid-based cleaning appliance 107a rests. A self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 may access the interior cavity 235 via one or more ramps 247. In some implementations, the base 245 may include one or more openings or drains 238 through which fluids may drain. In some implementations, the stationary fluid-based cleaning appliance 107a may include one or more doors 249 that may operably raise to create an opening through which self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 may pass to enter or exit the interior cavity 235. After the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 have entered the interior cavity 235, the one or more doors 249 may be lowered to provide an enclosed space when the cleaning fluid is to be applied to the self-propelled food

preparation appliances 240. Such an implementation may advantageously keep the cleaning fluid within the interior cavity 235 during a cleaning procedure. The stationary fluid-based cleaning appliance 107a may include one or more cleaning fluid inlet connections 257 that may be coupled to an exterior supply of cleaning fluid {i.e., an exterior water supply) that may be used to provide a continuous supply of cleaning fluid to the stationary fluid-based cleaning appliance 107a. The stationary fluid-based cleaning appliance 107a may include one or more waste fluid outlet connections 259 that may be used to drain used and dirty cleaning fluid. The stationary fluid-based cleaning appliance 107a may include one or more power supply connections 265 that may be coupleable to an exterior power supply to provide power to the stationary fluid-based cleaning appliance 107a.

The self-propelled fluid-based cleaning appliance 107b may include one or more sets of wheels 267 or treads (not shown) that enable the self- propelled fluid-based cleaning appliance 107b to move about the food assembly floor space 101 . In some implementations, for example, the self-propelled fluid- based cleaning appliance 107b may move between various food preparation appliances located on the food assembly floor space 101 to clean such food preparation appliances. As such, the food preparation appliances may be cleaned without moving the food preparation appliances away from the food preparation assembly line 102. In some implementations, the self-propelled fluid-based cleaning appliance 107b may include one or more doors 249 that may operably raise to enable the self-propelled fluid-based cleaning appliance 107b to move over a food preparation appliance to be cleaned, such that the food preparation appliance is positioned within the interior cavity 235 of the self-propelled fluid- based cleaning appliance 107b. Once the food preparation appliance to be cleaned is so positioned, the one or more doors 249 may operably be closed for the cleaning procedure. By closing the doors 249, the self-propelled fluid-based cleaning appliance 107b may reduce the amount of cleaning fluid that spreads along the food assembly floor space 101 . In some implementations, the used cleaning fluid may exit via one or more of the drains 1 19 placed throughout the food assembly floor space 101 . The self-propelled fluid-based cleaning appliance 107b may include one or more reservoirs (not shown) that contain various cleaning fluids. In some implementations, the self-propelled fluid-based cleaning appliance 107b may include one or more internal power sources {e.g., batteries) that may be used to provide power to the self-propelled fluid-based cleaning appliance 107b.

Figure 2G shows a stationary UV-based cleaning appliance 107c that may be used to apply ultraviolet light to clean food preparation appliances. The stationary UV-based cleaning appliance 107c may include one or more interior side walls 271 , a top 273, and a base 225 that form an interior cavity 277. The interior cavity 277 may have a height 279, a width 281 , and a length 283 that are sufficient to surround self-propelled food preparation appliances 240. The interior cavity 277 may include one or more UV-light sources 223 that may be used to direct ultraviolet light towards a center portion of the interior cavity 277. The interior cavity 277 may be accessed by self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 via one or more ramps 227. In some implementations, the stationary UV- based cleaning appliance 107c may include one or more doors 229 that may operably raise to create an opening through which self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 may pass to enter or exit the interior cavity 277. After the self- propelled food preparation appliances 240 have entered the interior cavity 277, the one or more doors 229 may be lowered to provide an enclosed space when the ultraviolet light is applied to the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240. Such an implementation may advantageously reduce the exposure to ultraviolet light in the area surrounding the stationary UV-based cleaning appliance 107c during a cleaning procedure. The stationary UV-based cleaning appliance 107c may include one or more power supply connections 215 that may be coupleable to an exterior power supply to provide power to the stationary UV-based cleaning appliance 107c. A self-propelled UV-based cleaning appliance 107c may be implemented and may be operable to move about the food preparation floor space 101 to clean various food preparation assemblies.

Figures 2H and 2I show a stationary replenishment appliance 105a and a self-propelled replenishment appliance 105b, respectively (collectively, replenishment appliance 105). The replenishment appliance 105 may include one or more interior side walls 21 1 and a top 213 that form an interior cavity 217. The replenishment appliance 105 may include an ingredient container 205 that may be attached to or located on the top 213. The ingredient container 205 may be used to store sauce or other liquids. The ingredient container 205 may be used to store cheese or other food-items or toppings. In some implementations, a cover 205a may be coupleable to a top opening of the ingredient container. Such a cover 205a may prevent debris and other unwanted materials from falling into the ingredients held within the ingredient container 205. The ingredient container 205 may be used to hold one or more ingredients to reload or replenish ingredients, toppings, or sauces being used by food preparation appliances. The ingredient container 205 may have a nozzle 207 or other opening on the bottom side of the ingredient container 205 through which the ingredient may be selectively

dispensed. In some implementations, the nozzle 207 may include a grater or other appliance that may be used to slice or process the food item stored within the ingredient container 205. In such an implementation, for example, a block of cheese may be stored within the ingredient container 205 and shredded by a grater in the nozzle when used to refill or replenish cheese used by food

preparation appliances. In some implementations, the replenishment appliance 105 may include one or more proximity sensors 209, or other type of sensors, that the replenishment appliance 105 may use to detect if a food preparation appliance 240 is positioned beneath the nozzle 207 to receive the ingredients being dispensed.

The interior cavity 217 of the stationary replenishment appliance 105a may be accessed by self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 via one or more ramps 219. The ingredient container 205 of the self-propelled

replenishment appliance 105b may be positioned above a food preparation appliance by moving the self-propelled replenishment appliance 105b about the food preparation floor space 101 using a set of wheels 221 or treads (not shown). The instructions to move the self-propelled replenishment appliance 105b may be generated by separate devices, such as, for example, the control system 104, and transmitted to the self-propelled replenishment appliance 105b. Such instructions may include a route for the self-propelled replenishment appliance 105b to travel. The route information may further include timing information {e.g., a delay before starting, or timed intermediary locations) to facilitate the movement of multiple self- propelled food preparation appliances along the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, some or all of the instructions to move the self-propelled replenishment appliance 105b may be generated by a processor-enabled control system located on the self-propelled replenishment appliance 105b. For example, in some implementations, the self-propelled replenishment appliance 105b may receive a destination from the control system 104, and the processor-enabled control system located on the self-propelled replenishment appliance 105b may autonomously determine a route for the self-propelled replenishment appliance 105b to travel over the food preparation floor space 101 to reach the specified destination.

Figure 3A shows the sauce dispensers 130 that include a reservoir

302 to retain sauce, a nozzle 304 to dispense an amount of sauce 135. The on- demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more sauce dispensers 130a, 130b (two shown in Figure 1 A, one shown in Figure 1 B to improve drawing clarity, collectively 130), for example positioned at a first work station 124a along the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102. As best illustrated in Figure 3A, the sauce dispensers 130 include a reservoir 302 to retain sauce, a nozzle 304 to dispense an amount of sauce 135 (Figure 1 B) and at least one valve 306 that is controlled by control signals via an actuator {e.g._^ solenoid, electric motor) 308 to selectively dispense the sauce 135 from the reservoir 302 via the nozzle 304. The reservoir 302 can optionally include a paddle, agitator, or other stirring mechanism to agitate the sauce stored in the reservoir 302 to prevent the ingredients of the sauce from separating or settling out. The reservoir 302 may include one or more sensors that provide

measurements related to the amount of sauce remaining in a reservoir 302. Such measurements can be used to identify when the amount of sauce in the reservoir is running low and should be refilled. In some implementations, the refilling of the reservoir 302 with sauce may be performed automatically without operator intervention from one or more sauce holding containers located elsewhere in the on-demand robotic food assembly line environment 100 that are fluidly coupled to the reservoirs 302.

Figure 3B is a front elevational view of a cover 141 for the cutter robot 178 that encloses at least the portion of the cutter robot 178 that includes the set of blades 180, the actuator 182, the drive shaft 184, and the cutting support tray 188. The cover 141 includes a guard-shell 143 that has a back cover 145, a top cover 147, a partial front cover 149, and one or more side covers 151 . The top cover 147 may include a window 147a, such as a window comprised of acrylic, plastic, or like suitable materials, that enables an operator to safely view the cutter robot 178. The window 147a may facilitate the positioning of the pizza or other food item by the operator under the set of blades 180 in the cutter robot 178. The side covers 151 may include opposing openings 151 a, 151 b that are positioned over the belt 204b to provide an ingress and/or egress for food items being moved by the belt 204b. At least one of the openings 151 a, 151 b may provide an entry for the one or more packaging robots 170 to retrieve a cut sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f for packaging as discussed below.

The cover 141 may include a door 153 that is rotatably coupled to the partial front cover 149 of the guard-shell 143. The door 153 may rotate or pivot 149a along an axis of rotation 149b that runs transversely across the bottom of the partial front cover 149. In some implementations, the door 153 may include a trigger, such as a pneumatic actuator, to activate the actuator 182. As such, the actuator 182 may be triggered, thereby moving the set of blades 180 downward to cut the sauced, cheesed, topped flatten and partially cooked dough, when the door 153 is pivoted inwards towards the interior of the cover 141 relative to the axis of rotation 149b. Such operation may provide a safety feature for the cutter robot 178.

After cutting, the packaging robot(s) 170 may retrieve and move the packaging 190 {e.g., domed covers) into engagement with the packaging 176 (bottom plates or trays), closing the packaging 176, 190, for instance by asserting a downward pressure causing pegs of the packaging 190 to engage inserts or receptacles of the packaging 176. Thus, the sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f can be assembled and packaged without being touched or manually handled by humans.

One or more wipers or scrapers 218 may be located towards the end of the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b after a point at which the loading robot 192 has retrieved the packaged sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f from the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b. The one or more wipers or scrapers 218 may, for example, have the shape of a blade, and may consist of a food grade material {e.g., silicone rubber, stainless steel) or may comprise two or more materials, with any portion that may contact food or a food handling surface comprised of a food grade material {e.g., silicone rubber, stainless steel). The one or more wipers or scrapers 218 may stretch transversely across the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b to clean the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b of debris. In some implementations, the one or more wipers or scrapers 218 may stretch across the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b at a diagonal with respect to the direction of travel of the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b to direct the debris off of the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b and towards a trash receptacle 220 placed to the side of the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b. In some implementations, the wipers or scrapers 218 may be located proximate the outside surface of the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b that carries the packaged sauced, cheesed, and topped flatten and partially cooked dough 202f. In some

implementations, the wipers or scrapers 218 may be in contact with the outside surface of the second or secondary assembly conveyors 122b.

Figure 4 shows the sauce spreader robot 140, according to at least one illustrated embodiment. The sauce spreader robot 140 includes one or more appendages or arms 150a, 150b, 150c (three shown), a rotatable drive linkage 402, and a sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152. The appendages or arms 150, rotatable drive linkage 402, and a sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 are operable to spread sauce around the flatten round of dough.

The appendages or arms 150a, 150b, 150c may each comprise a multi-bar linkage that includes a driven member 404 (only one called out) and a pair of arms 406a, 406b (only one pair called out, collectively 406) which collectively form a respective linkage (three linkages illustrated). A proximate end 408 of the driven member 404 is pivotally coupled to a base or housing 410, and driven by an electric motor (not shown), for example a stepper motor. The pair of arms 406 is pivotally coupled to a distal end 412 of the driven member 404, and pivotally coupled to a common plate 414. Each appendage or arm 150a, 150b, 150c may be driven by a respective motor (not shown), the motors controlled via controller hardware circuitry {e.g., programmable logic controller or PLC). The sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 is coupled to the common plate 414, and to the rotatable drive linkage 402. Movement of the one or more appendages or arms 150a, 150b, 150c (three shown) cause the common plate 414, and hence the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 to trace a desired pattern in space. Rotation of the rotatable drive linkage 402 causes the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 to rotate or spin about a longitudinal axis. Thus, the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 may rotate or spin, while the appendages or arms 150 moves the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 in defined patterns in space, to replicate the manual application of sauce to flatten dough via a bottom of a ladle.

The sauce spreader robot 140 may include a shield 152a that partially encompasses the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 to prevent the spraying of sauce to undesired locations, which might otherwise result from rotation of sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152. For example, the shield 152a may be positioned to protect a perimeter of the dough, which forms the crust when baked, from having sauce deposited thereon. For instance, an arcuate shield 152a may be carried by a portion of the appendages or arms 150a, 150b, 150c, and positioned to be between the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 and a nearest edge of the crust as the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 is moved to trace the desired pattern in space, and rotates to spread the sauce. The shield 152a is preferable a food grade material, e.g., stainless steel or a food grade plastic.

Figures 5, 6A, 6B, 6C, 7A, 7B, and 7C show the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152, according to at least one illustrated

implementation. In particular, Figure 5 shows both a coupler 502 and a contact portion 504 of the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152. Figures 6A, 6B, and 6C show the coupler, while Figures 7A, 7B, and 7C show the contact portion. As best illustrated in Figures 6A, 6B, and 6C, the coupler 502 can take the form of a disk with a substantially flat mating side or face 606 on which the contact portion is selectively removably attached, and with an attachment neck 608 to selectively removable attach the rotatable drive linkage 402. In particular, the attachment neck 608 may include a receptacle 610 sized and dimensioned to receive a distal end of the rotatable drive linkage 402, which extends through the common plate 414. The attachment neck 608 may also include a recess 612, offset from a longitudinal axis of the coupler 502, and sized and dimensioned to receive a pin or dowel 614 (Figure 6B). Such ensures that the coupler 502, and hence the contact portion 504, spins with the rotatable drive linkage 402. The coupler 502 may be made of food grade material, for instance stainless steel, or alternatively a food grade polymer, for instance silicone.

As best illustrated in Figures 7A, 7B and 7C, the contact portion 504 may be made of food grade material, for instance a food grade polymer, or alternatively stainless steel. The contact portion 504 can take the form of a disk or puck. The disk or puck may have a circular or oval top plan profile 702 (Figure 6C), with a curved edge or perimeter 704 (Figure 6B) when viewed in a side elevational view. The contact portion 504 can have a substantially flat distal or contact surface 706 (Figure 6B), or may have a more hemispherical shape, similar or identical to that of a bottom of a ladle. The contact portion 504 can have one or more projections that project from a surface thereof, for instance to

advantageously ensure sauce enters any dimples in the dough. The contact portion 504 has a substantially flat mating face 708 (Figures 6B, 6C), to mate with the mating face 606 (Figure 6B) of the coupler 502.

The coupler 502 and the contact portion 504 may have a number of holes 616, 716 (only one of each called out in Figures 6A, 6B, 7A, 7C) to receive fasteners 518 (only one called out, Figure 5) to removably fasten the contact portion 504 to the coupler 502. The holes 616 in the coupler 502 may be throughholes, while the holes 716 of the contact portion 504 may not extend through the entire thickness of the contact portion 504. The holes 716 in the contact portion may include an internal thread, sized and dimensioned to receive an external thread 520 of the fasteners 518. Alternatively, nuts and bolts may be employed to removably fasten the contact portion 504 to the coupler 502.

In some implementations, one or more tubes may be carried by appendages or arms 150a, 150b, 150c, with openings or even nozzles positioned proximate the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 to dispense sauce in close proximity to the contact portion 504. This may result in less wastage, better positioning of the sauce and a more even or desirable distribution of the dispensed sauce. In some implementations, the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 may have one or more passages through which sauce may be dispensed via openings at the contact portion 504. For example, one or more tubes may couple to an inlet of each of the passages, the passages providing fluidly communicatively coupling to a set of outlets {e.g., openings, nozzles) formed in the contact portion 504. In this implementation, the disk or ladle shaped portion may form a manifold to dispense the sauce via a plurality of outlets.

Alternatively, the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 may take the form of a wiper or blade made of food grade material, for instance stainless steel, or alternatively a food grade polymer, for instance silicone.

The sauce spreader robot 140 can be controlled using various machine-vision techniques {e.g., blob analysis) to detect the position and shape of the dough and/or to detect the position and shape of the sauce on the dough 202b (Figure 1 B). One or more processors generate control signals based on the images to cause the appendages or arms 150 to move in defined patterns {e.g., spiral patterns) to cause the sauce spreader end effector or end of arm tool 152 to spread the sauce evenly over the flatten round of dough while leaving a sufficient border proximate a perimeter of the flatten dough without sauce 202c (Figure 1 B). The sauce spreader robot 140 can, for example, be trained using machine learning techniques and machine vision. For example, a training system may be set up, with a conveyor belt, a sauce spreader robot 140, one or more cameras or other imagers, and a computing system coupled to the cameras.

Cameras may be placed both upstream and downstream of the sauce spreader robot 140 with respect to a direction of travel of the conveyor belt. The cameras may capture images of individual attempts at sauce spreading, and compare such to a store of images that represent desired outcomes, undesired outcomes or rated outcomes of sauce spreading (training data set). The conveyor belt may provide a circular or endless track. In some implementations, actual dough may be used, and a wiper positioned downstream of the camera(s) to clean the dough for reuse. Alternatively, dough proxies or discs may be employed, having the size and shape, and possibly the consistency, of dough while not being perishable, thereby avoiding the waste and expense. Various machine learning techniques can be employed, for instance supervised or semi-supervised machine learning using an annotated data set {e.g., images of sauced dough, with human assessed ratings associated with the images).

Figure 8A shows a dispensing container 155 that may have a number of different dispensing ends to dispense various toppings (four shown in Figures 8I-8L). In some implementations, one or both of the cheese application robots 154 and the toppings application robots 156 may include one of a plurality of dispensing containers 155 with one or more dispensing ends. Each of the dispensing containers 155 may have a top face 155a that is physically coupled to the cheese application robot 154 or toppings application robot 156, and a bottom face 155b to which a dispensing end attaches. The top face 155a and the bottom face 155b may be separated by a distance across which extends one or more side walls 155c. The side walls 155c may be substantially perpendicular to one or both of the top face 155a and the bottom face 155b. A cross section of the side walls 155c forms an interior for the dispensing container 155 that may be of various shapes {e.g., circular, elliptical, square, rectangular, etc.). The size, shape, and/or dimensions of the interior of the dispensing container 155 may be based on the type of topping to be dispensed. The dispensing ends may be detachable from the dispensing container 155. The dispensing ends may be cleanable and

interchangeable, such that a single dispensing container 155 may be used to dispense various different toppings.

Figure 8I, 8J, 8K, and 8L show different types of dispensing ends that may be selected based on the type of item or topping to be dispensed. For example, Figure 8I shows a grating attachment 157a that may be used, for example, to grate various types of hard cheeses {e.g., parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, etc.) or other topping items {e.g., garlic, boiled eggs, chocolate, etc.). The grating attachment 157a may be physically coupled to a motor that causes the grating attachment 157a to move laterally across the bottom face 155b of the dispensing container 155, thereby grating the cheese or other topping item to provide the topping.

Figure 8J shows a dispensing end that incorporates a nozzle 157b that may be used to dispense semi-solid, viscous, or flowable topping items, such as, for example goat cheese, brie, peanut butter, cream cheese, etc. The size of the opening of the nozzle may be selected based on the type of topping item to be dispensed. For example, the opening for a nozzle 157b to dispense peanut butter may be relatively smaller than the opening for a nozzle 157b to dispense goat cheese.

Figure 8K shows a dispensing end that incorporates a rotating blade 157c, such as a blade used in a food processor. The rotating blade 157c may rotate within a plane defined by the bottom face 155b of the dispensing container 155. The rotating blade 157c may have one or more blade edges that extend radially outward from the center of the rotating blade 157c towards the outside edges. The blade edges may be straight or the blade edges may curved. The rotating blade 157c may be used, for example, to provide fresh cut fruits or vegetables, such as sliced tomatoes, onions, and carrots, or other items, such as slices of mozzarella cheese, as toppings.

Figure 8L shows a dispensing end that incorporates a linear slicer 157d, such as a slicing machine used to slice meats. The linear slicer 157d includes a blade edge that may extend transversely across a length or width of the linear slicer 157d along the bottom face 155b of the dispensing container 155. The blade edge travels along the bottom face 155b of the dispensing container 155 in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the blade edge extends. In some implementations, the blade edge may be arranged at an angle to the length or width of the linear slicer 157d. The blade edge may further be slightly recessed into the bottom face 155b of the dispensing container 155 to form a gap between the blade edge and the bottom face 155b of the dispensing container 155 such that the processed food item may be ejected from the gap as the blade edge travels across the bottom face 155b. Such a linear slicer 157d may be used, for example, to slice various types of meats, such as salami or ham, or to slice other topping items, such as fruits, vegetables, etc.

Each of the dispensing ends 157a-157d, and any other dispensing ends, may be detachably removed from the cheese application robots 154 and/or the toppings application robots 156. Such removal may allow for the dispensing ends 157a-157d to be cleaned. In some implementations, the cheese application robots 154 and/or the toppings application robots 156 may automatically remove one dispensing end 157a-157d {e.g., for cleaning after a certain number of uses) and replace the removed dispensing end 157a-157d with an identical or with a different type of dispensing end 157a-157d. The removed dispensing end 157a- 157d may be placed inside of an apparatus to be cleaned, such as a sink or reservoir that contains a cleaning agent, or an industrial dishwasher. In some implementations, the dispensing containers 155 may be detachably removed from the cheese application robots 154 and/or the toppings application robots 156, such as, for example, to be cleaned. The dispensing container 155 and attached dispensing end 157a- 157d may be moved relative to the food item on the assembly conveyor 122 to arrange the topping in a desired pattern. For example, as a rotating blade 157c is used to dispense fresh cut pepperoni onto a pizza being moved along the assembly conveyor 122, the dispensing container 155 may be moved relative to the pizza to arrange the pepperoni in a triangular pattern. In some

implementations, a dispensing container 155 may dispense a topping onto a food item moving along the assembly conveyor 122, and a toppings application robot 156 with various end effectors or end of arm tools {e.g., end of arm tools that include opposable digits) may be used to arrange the toppings into a desired pattern.

The topping item to be used for the topping may be contained within the interior of the dispensing container 155 and have a force applied to it in the direction of the bottom face 155b of the dispensing container 155 towards the attachment, e.g., dispensing ends 157a-157d. For example, the dispensing container 155 may include a plunger 155f that is located relatively towards the top face 155a of the dispensing container 155 compared to the topping item to be processed. A plunger 155f can be used to, for example, dispense a soft cheese {e.g. goat cheese) or similar viscous substance. The plunger 155f may have a flat surface arranged to be perpendicular to the side walls 155c of the dispensing container 155, and that is sized and shaped to fit substantially flush within the interior walls of the dispensing container 155. In some implementations, the plunger 155f may form a seal with the interior surface of the dispensing container 155, thereby preventing the topping item from escaping to and dirtying the top surface of the plunger 155f. The plunger 155f may be coupled to a pneumatic or spring component 155g that exerts a force on the plunger 155f towards the bottom face 155b, causing the plunger 155f to apply a force in the same direction upon the topping item held within the dispensing container 155. The plunger 155f, motor/piston, and any other components that are used by the dispensing container 155 and/or dispensing ends 157a-157d to provide the topping may be actuated by a signal received from the control system 104. The plunger 155f and dispensing container 155 can form a piston and cylinder, with the piston moveable with respect to the cylinder to drive contents from the cylinder.

The dispensing container 155 may include one or more ingredient sensors 155d that provide measurements related to the amount of topping item remaining in a dispensing container 155. Such ingredient sensors 155d can measure height, weight, volume, number and can include a light sensor, a load cell or other force sensor, imager or image sensor.

Such measurements can be used to identify when the topping item to be processed to provide the topping is running low. For example, location sensors 155e-1 may be located within the interior surface of the dispensing container 155 and can be used to identify the level of the plunger 155f. Such location sensors 155e-1 may include line of sight sensors that include a light source that is aimed across the interior of the dispensing container 155 towards a light-sensing transducer, which can be used to indicate when the path of the light source to the light-sensing transducer is blocked. Such a location sensor 155e-1 may include a plurality of electrical contacts located within the interior surface of the side walls that result in a high or a low signal when the electrical contacts are electrically coupled to the plunger 155f.

In some implementations, the amount of the topping item held within the dispensing container 155 may be determined by an ingredient sensor 155d. Such an ingredient sensor 155d may measure a weight of the topping item using a weight sensor 155e-2, for instance one or more load cells. For example, the topping item may be contained in an insert suspended within the interior of the dispensing container 155 such that the combined weight of the insert and the topping item may be measured by the weight sensor 155e-2, such as an

automated scale. The weight of the contained topping item may be determined by subtracting a known weight of the insert. The control systems 104 and/or 246 may include one or more threshold values for each of the dispensing containers 155 to identify when the contained topping item should be replenished or the dispensing container 155 refilled. The control system 104 and/or 246 may be electrically and

communicatively coupled to receive signals from the one or more position sensors 155e-1 and/or weight sensors 155e-2 that are representative of the position of the plunger 155f and/or the weight of the remaining topping item to be used as the topping. The control systems 104 and/or 246 may use the received signals to determine a value for the plunger location and/or the topping item weight, and compare this determined value to the threshold value. In some implementations, the control systems 104 and/or 246 may modify the threshold value based upon the received and/or expected orders. Thus, for example, the threshold value for reloading pepperoni may be raised, causing the pepperoni to be reloaded more regularly, if the control systems 104 and/or 246 receive an unexpectedly high number of orders for pizzas containing pepperoni.

The control systems 104 and/or 246 may generate a low-ingredient notification signal that causes a low ingredient indicator 155h to be activated when the threshold value is met or passed. Such a low ingredient indicator 155h may include an audible and/or visual signal such as an audible alarm or a blinking light, and/or a tactile signal. In some implementations, the control systems 104 and/or 246 may cause the topping item to be automatically reloaded when the threshold value is met or passed, such as, for example, by detaching the current, nearly empty dispensing container 155 and attaching a new, full dispensing container 155, or by removing the current insert and attaching a new insert into the interior of the dispensing container 155. In some implementations, the food preparation appliance control system 246 may transmit a signal that includes the low ingredient indicator 155h to the control system 104. The control system 104 may, in response, generate one or more signals that cause the ingredient to be

replenished from a replenishment appliance 105. In some implementations, the control system 104 may detect the audible and/or visual signal and generate one or more instructions that cause the ingredients to be replenished from a

replenishment appliance 105. In some implementations, the dispensing container 155 may be reloaded by hand, such as by pouring additional sauce or other topping items into an opening on the top of the dispensing container 155.

In some implementations, the control systems 104 and/or 246 may use predictive determinations and/or machine learning to calculate times to refill or replenish a dispensing container 155. Such predictive determinations and/or machine learning may base it calculations to refill or replenish a particular topping item on the velocity at which that particular topping items is being used. The control systems 104 and/or 246 may schedule frequent re-fillings and/or replenishments for topping items currently being used at a high "velocity." In addition or alternatively, the control systems 104 and/or 246 may use machine learning to determine times to refill or replenish a particular topping item based on past usage of the topping item. For example, the control systems 104 and/or 246 may use historical information regarding the high usage of a topping item at a particular time {e.g., high usage of pepperoni on a Friday night) to schedule more frequent refilling or replenishing of that topping item.

The control systems 104 and/or 246 may control one or more of the dispensing containers 155 to dispense the same amount of topping each time a topping is used for an item on the assembly conveyor 122. For liquid toppings, the dispensing containers 155 may use a volumetric dispenser that dispenses a certain volume of topping item each time it is activated. For example, the control systems 104 and/or 246 may activate a volumetric dispenser within a dispensing container 155 for "Buffalo" sauce to always dispense four fluid ounces of buffalo sauce for each medium-sized pizza that requests a "Buffalo" sauce topping. For dry goods or non-liquid toppings, the dispensing containers 155 may dispense a certain number or a specified weight of a topping item each time it is activated. For example, the control systems 104 and/or 246 may control a dispensing container 155 for pepperoni to always dispense ten pieces of pepperoni for each medium sized pizza that requests a pepperoni topping.

Figure 8B shows a dispensing container 155 along with a single-use canister 191 that contains sufficient topping items to provide toppings for a single item on the assembly conveyor 122. The single-use canister 191 , for example, may contain an amount of sauce that is sufficient to provide toppings for a single pizza. As another example, the single-use canister 191 may provide olives, mushrooms, peppers, and other like food items that may be used as toppings for pizzas, hamburgers, etc. In some implementations, the dispensing container 155 may be able to receive single-use canisters 191 from multiple sources, with each source to provide a different type of topping. In such an implementation, a single dispensing container 155 may be used to provide multiple different toppings. In addition, the dispensing container 155 may include an extractor 193 and an ejector 195 to eject a spent single-use canister 191 once the single-use canister 191 has been used to dispense a topping. The extractor 193 may be used to move the spent single-use canister 191 towards an opening 195a in the dispensing container 155, and once the spent single-use canister 191 is at the opening 195a, the ejector 195 may be used to push the spent single-use canister 191 out from the

dispensing container 155. Once the spent single-use canister 191 is ejected, the dispensing container 155 may be loaded with a new single-use canister 191 of the appropriate topping item to provide the next topping for the items on the assembly conveyor 122.

The dispensing containers 155 may be loaded with other types of containers that hold the various cheese and other topping items. In some instances, the dispensing containers 155 may be loaded with clam-shell canisters that may be selectively, detachably removed from the dispensing containers 155. Such clam-shell canisters may have a base end and a top end, and may be sized and shaped to be inserted into a dispensing container 155 with the base end first. The clam-shell canisters may further be configured such that the base end opens {e.g., pivots open about an axis) as the clam-shell canister is being inserted into the dispensing container 155, thereby providing access to the food item contained within the clam-shell canisters. In some instances, the clam-shell canisters may be configured such that the base end closes as the clam-shell canisters is removed from the dispensing container 155, thereby preventing the food item enclosed within the clam-shell canisters from dropping out as the clam-shell canisters is being inserted or removed from the dispensing container.

Figure 8C shows a refrigerated environment that may be used for one or more of the work stations 124, such as the work stations 124 that include the cheese application robots 154 and the toppings application robots 156. Such refrigeration may be used to keep the topping item at a temperature, such as 42° F, that prolongs the shelf-life and improves the freshness of the cheese and other topping items used for the toppings. In some implementations, each of the work stations 124 that include the cheese application robots 154 and the toppings application robots 156 may be enclosed within individual refrigeration stations 161 . The refrigeration stations may include one or more slots 161 a located along the path of the assembly conveyor 122 that provide for ingress and/or egress of the pizza or other food item relative to the interior of the refrigeration station 161 . The refrigeration station 161 may include an opening or door 169 that provides access to the interior of the refrigeration station 161 proximate the dispensing container 155. Such a door 169 may be used to reload the dispensing container 155 when the topping item is running low.

The refrigeration station 161 may provide monitoring of the one or more work stations 124 enclosed within the refrigerated environment. For example, one or more windows 165 may provide for visual inspection, either by an operation and/or by an automated visual inspection system, of the interior of the refrigeration station 161 . The interior temperature of the refrigeration system 161 may be monitored using, for example, a thermocouple or other temperature measuring device that may provide feedback signals to the control system 104. In some implementations, the refrigeration station 161 may include a control panel 167 that provides monitoring and/or control of the refrigeration station 161 . For example, the interior temperature of the refrigeration station 161 may be set using manual controls in the control panel 167. The control panel 167 may further provide a display that provides various types of information, such as the temperature of the interior of the refrigeration station 161 , the amount of topping item remaining in the dispensing container 155, and the current operation being performed by the enclosed work station 124. The control panel 167 may activate an alarm, such as a flashing light or other signal, when a fault condition occurs {e.g., when a dispensing container is running low on a topping item, when the interior temperature exceeds a certain threshold, etc.). In some implementations, multiple work stations 124 may be enclosed within a single refrigeration station 161 . In some implementations, at least some, and potentially all, of the work stations 124, including the work stations that include the cheese application robots 154 and the toppings application robots 156 may be enclosed within a single refrigerated room.

Figures 8D shows a linear dispensing array 171 that may be used to dispense various toppings from multiple dispensing containers 155 onto items being transported along the assembly conveyor 122. The linear dispensing array 171 may include a shelf 173 that is located above the assembly conveyor 122 and extends transversely across the path of the assembly conveyor 122. In some implementations, one or more legs 175 may be used to suspend the shelf 173 above the assembly conveyor 122 and provide sufficient clearance for each of the dispensing containers 155 to dispense a topping onto the item being transported by the assembly conveyor 122. In some implementations, the shelf 173 may be physically coupled to and supported by one or more arms that descend from the ceiling. The shelf 173 may include one or more translating components or tracks 177 that enable the shelf 173 to move laterally with respect to the path of the assembly conveyor 122. Such lateral movement enables the shelf 173 to place the appropriate dispensing container 155 over the conveyor to dispense the requested topping. In some implementations, the linear dispensing array 171 may be controlled to dispense multiple toppings onto a single item being transported by the assembly conveyor 122. In some implementations, the linear dispensing array 171 may be oriented to be parallel to the assembly conveyor 122 such that each of the dispensing containers 155 is located over the assembly conveyor 122 and may concurrently dispense toppings onto food items being transported along the assembly conveyor 122.

In some implementations, topping dispensing may be implemented via a first conveyor and a second conveyor. A portion of the first conveyor may be positioned over a portion of the second conveyor. One conveyor may be indexed to follow the food item as it moves along with the assembly conveyor 122. Another conveyor, positioned over the assembly conveyor 122, for example at an oblique or right angle thereto, may be controlled to space dispense toppings along one axis {e.g., left/right) while the assembly conveyor 122 can be controlled to cause dispense toppings along a second axis {e.g., front/back). Precise targeting can eliminate waste as compared to more conventional waterfall dispensers which do not adjust position of dispensed items along two different axes. This approach can be used to dispense one or more toppings accurately with respect to position and amount.

Figures 8E, 8F, 8G, and 8H show a dispenser carousel 181 that may be used to dispense toppings from one or more dispensing containers 155. The dispenser carousel 181 may be substantially shaped like a disk, with a circular top surface 183 and a circular bottom surface 185 that are arranged to be parallel to the surface of the assembly conveyor 122. The dispenser carousel 181 may include one or more openings 187, each of which is associated with a dispensing container 155 that may be used to dispense various toppings onto the items being transported by the assembly conveyor 122. The dispenser carousel 181 is located above the assembly conveyor 122 with sufficient clearance for toppings to be dispensed from each of the dispensing containers 155 and the associated dispensing ends 157a-157d. The dispenser carousel 181 rotates about an axis of rotation 189 that extends vertically from a center point of the circular top surface 183.

The dispenser carousel 181 may rotate about the axis of rotation 189 such that at least one of the dispensing containers 155 is located directly above the path of the assembly conveyor 122 and in a position to dispense a topping. As shown in Figure 2G, a single one of the dispensing containers 155-1 may be located in a position over the assembly conveyor 122 to dispense a topping onto the item being transported on the assembly conveyor 122. The dispenser carousel 181 may be rotated about the axis of rotation 189 to change the dispensing container 155 located above the assembly conveyor 122. Figure 2H shows an optional configuration in which two parallel conveyors, a first assembly conveyor 122a-1 and a second assembly conveyor 122a-2, are both traversed by the dispenser carousel 181 . In such an implementation, a first dispensing container 155-1 may be in a position to dispense toppings onto items being transported along the first assembly conveyor 122a-1 , while a second dispensing container 155-2 may be in a position to dispense toppings onto items being transported along the second assembly conveyor 122a-2. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 2I, multiple dispensing containers 155-1 and 155-2 may be concurrently located over the assembly conveyor 122 and be in a position to dispense toppings onto separate items being transported by the assembly conveyor 122.

Figure 9 shows a transfer conveyor 162, according to one illustrated implementation. The transfer conveyor 162 can serve as either the first and/or the second transfer conveyors 162a, 162b.

The transfer conveyor 162 can include a frame 902a, 902b, 902c (collectively 902), with one or more rollers 904a-904e (five shown in Figure 9, collectively 904) which span a width of the frame 902, and a grill or rack 163. The frame 902 may include a plurality of mounts 903 that allow the frame 902 to be physically mounted or coupled to an appendage of a robot as an end effector or end of arm tool. The mounts 903 are preferably positioned laterally with respect to a direction of travel of the grill or rack 163, as to avoid interference by the appendage of a robot with other conveyors or other equipment.

The frame 902 and rollers 904 should be sufficiently strong to support the weight and acceleration forces expected for the particular application {e.g., moving pizzas). While not illustrated, the frame 902 can include cross-brace bars or wires to enhance structure rigidity. The frame 902 and rollers 904 are preferably made of a food grade material and/or easily cleanable material. For example, the frame 902 may be made of stainless steel. Also for example, the rollers 904 may be made of either stainless steel or a food grade polymer, or the rollers 904 may have a food grade material outer liner overlying a non-food grade material.

The transfer conveyor 162 can include can include a grill or rack 163 (shown in Figure 9 as removed from the frame 902 and rollers 904 to better illustrate the transfer conveyor 162). Alternatively, the transfer conveyor 162 can include chains or a belt, for example a food grade polymer belt. The grill or rack 163 can take the form of a closed or endless grill or rack 163 as illustrated in Figure 9. The grill or rack 163 is preferably made of a food grade material and/or easily cleanable material. The grill or rack 163 may, for example, be made of stainless steel.

The grill or rack 163 can include a plurality of laterally extending members 906 (only one called out in Figure 9) with can take the form of wires or bars, and a number of longitudinally extending members 908 (only one called out in Figure 9) which can take the form of wires or links. The laterally extending members 906 should be placed sufficiently close together with respect to one another to support uncooked dough during operation of the transfer conveyor 162, without significant drooping or tearing of the uncooked dough. The grill or rack 163 can include one or more removable or releasable links 910. Removal or release of the releasable link(s) 910 uncouples one end of the otherwise endless grill or rack 163 from another end of the grill or rack 163, to allow easy removal of the grill or rack 163 from the rollers 904 and frame 902. This facilitates cleaning. The grill or rack 163 can, for example, be removed from the rollers 904 and frame 902, and placed in a dishwasher. The releasable link(s) 910 can include a fastener {e.g., nut, cam lock, cotter pin) 912 (only one called out in Figure 9) to secure the grill or rack 163 in the endless configuration during use, yet allow easy removable to clean and/or service.

The transfer conveyor 162 can include a motor, for example an electric stepper motor 914. The motor 914 has a drive shaft 916 that is coupled to drive at least one of the rollers 904, for example a driven roller 904a. In some implementations, the drive shaft 916 may be drivingly coupled to the driven roller 904a via a D-shaped coupling in which the drive shaft 916 has a D-shaped shaft that couples with a corresponding D-shaped cavity located within the driven roller 904a. In some implementations, the drive shaft 916 may be drivingly coupled with the driven roller 904a via one or more gears or sprockets. Such gears or sprockets may be used to selectively couple or uncouple the drive shaft 916 to the driven roller 904a. The frame 902 may carry one or more bushings 918 to support the drive shaft 916. The driven roller 904a may include a plurality of teeth 920

(only three called out in Figure 9), the teeth 920 sized and dimensioned to drivingly engage the grill or rack 163 to cause the grill or rack 163 to rotate about the rollers 904 with respect to the frame 902.

The electric motor 914 that can preferably selectively drive the grill or rack 163 in two directions {e.g., clockwise, counterclockwise). The electric motor 914 that can preferably selectively drive the grill or rack 163 in and at a variety of speeds, in either direction.

In at least some implementations, a weight sensor {e.g., strain gauge, load cell) 922 may be positioned along a transit path, for example associated with one or more conveyors, for instance transfer conveyor 162. The weight sensor 922 may sense the weight of an item carried by the conveyor {e.g., transfer conveyor 162). The weight sensor may have an adjustable tare to allow the weight of the associated structure {e.g., transfer conveyor 162) to be

automatically subtracted, resulting in an signal that represents the weight of an item {e.g., item of food, dough, dough with sauce, dough with sauce and cheese, dough with sauce, cheese and one or more toppings). The sensed weight may be automatically, compared via a processor-based device or analog circuit to a threshold or range of acceptable or expected weights for the food item. In response to an out of tolerance or out of range condition, the structure may automatically move the out of tolerance or out of range condition food item into a waste receptacle. The system may automatically place another order in an order queue to replace the out of tolerance or out of range condition food item.

Figure 10 and the following discussion provide a brief, general description of an exemplary central controller 1002 that may be used to implement any one or more of the processor-based control systems 104, 106, 108 (Figure 1 A), or 246 (Figures 2A-2D). Although the order front end server computer control system(s) 104, the order assembly control system(s) 106, the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108, an on-board processor-based routing module 1074, and an on-board processor-based cooking module 1076 are described herein as functional elements of a central controller 1002, one of ordinary skill in the art would readily appreciate that some or all of the functionality may be performed using one or more additional computing devices which may be external to the central controller 1002. For example, the order front end server computer control system(s) 104 may be disposed in a national or regional call or order aggregation center that is remote from the order assembly control system(s) 106 and/or remote from the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108. In another example, the on-board processor-based routing module 1074 and/or the on-board processor-based cooking module 1076 may be disposed in some or all of the delivery vehicles 1072. The central controller 1002 may implement some or all of the various functions and operations discussed herein.

Although not required, some portion of the specific implementations will be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions or logic, such as program application modules, objects, or macros being executed by a computer. Those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the illustrated embodiments as well as other embodiments can be practiced with other computer system configurations, including handheld devices for instance Web enabled cellular phones or PDAs, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, personal computers ("PCs"), network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The embodiments can be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks or modules are performed by remote processing devices, which are linked through a

communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be stored in both local and remote memory storage devices and executed using one or more local or remote processors, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, or combinations thereof.

The central controller 1002 may take the form of any current or future developed computing system capable of executing one or more instruction sets. The central controller 1002 includes a processing unit 1006, a system memory 1008 and a system bus 1010 that communicably couples various system

components including the system memory 1008 to the processing unit 1006. The central controller 1002 will at times be referred to in the singular herein, but this is not intended to limit the embodiments to a single system, since in certain

embodiments, there will be more than one system or other networked computing device involved. Non-limiting examples of commercially available systems include, but are not limited to, an Atom, Pentium, or 80x86 architecture microprocessor as offered by Intel Corporation, a Snapdragon processor as offered by Qualcomm, Inc., a PowerPC microprocessor as offered by IBM, a Sparc microprocessor as offered by Sun Microsystems, Inc., a PA-RISC series microprocessor as offered by Hewlett-Packard Company, an A6 or A8 series processor as offered by Apple Inc., or a 68xxx series microprocessor as offered by Motorola Corporation.

The processing unit 1006 may be any logic processing unit, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs), microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field

programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic controllers (PLCs), etc. Unless described otherwise, the construction and operation of the various blocks shown in Figure 10 are of conventional design. As a result, such blocks need not be described in further detail herein, as they will be understood by those skilled in the relevant art.

The system bus 1010 can employ any known bus structures or architectures, including a memory bus with memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus. The system memory 1008 includes read-only memory ("ROM") 1012 and random access memory ("RAM") 1014. A basic input/output system ("BIOS") 1016, which can form part of the ROM 1012, contains basic routines that help transfer information between elements within the central controller 1002, such as during start-up. Some embodiments may employ separate buses for data, instructions and power.

The central controller 1002 also includes one or more internal nontransitory storage systems 1018. Such internal nontransitory storage systems 1018 may include, but are not limited to, any current or future developed persistent storage device 1020. Such persistent storage devices 1020 may include, without limitation, magnetic storage devices such as hard disc drives, electromagnetic storage devices such as memristors, molecular storage devices, quantum storage devices, electrostatic storage devices such as solid state drives, and the like.

The central controller 1002 may also include one or more optional removable nontransitory storage systems 1022. Such removable nontransitory storage systems 1022 may include, but are not limited to, any current or future developed removable persistent storage device 1026. Such removable persistent storage devices 1026 may include, without limitation, magnetic storage devices, electromagnetic storage devices such as memristors, molecular storage devices, quantum storage devices, and electrostatic storage devices such as secure digital ("SD") drives, USB drives, memory sticks, or the like.

The one or more internal nontransitory storage systems 1018 and the one or more optional removable nontransitory storage systems 1022 communicate with the processing unit 1006 via the system bus 1010. The one or more internal nontransitory storage systems 1018 and the one or more optional removable nontransitory storage systems 1022 may include interfaces or device controllers (not shown) communicably coupled between nontransitory storage system and the system bus 1010, as is known by those skilled in the relevant art. The nontransitory storage systems 1018, 1022, and their associated storage devices 1020, 1026 provide nonvolatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the central controller 1002. Those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that other types of storage devices may be employed to store digital data accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, RAMs, ROMs, smart cards, etc.

Program modules can be stored in the system memory 1008, such as an operating system 1030, one or more application programs 1032, other programs or modules 1034, drivers 1036 and program data 1038.

The application programs 1032 may include, for example, one or more machine executable instruction sets {i.e., order entry module 1032a) capable of receiving and processing food item orders, for example in any form of

communication, including without limitation, voice orders, text orders, and digital data orders. The application programs 1032 may additionally include one or more machine executable instruction sets {i.e., routing module 1032b) capable of providing routing instructions {e.g., text, voice, and/or graphical routing

instructions) to the presentation or display devices 1078 in some or all of the delivery vehicles 1072a, 1072b and/or providing positional information or coordinates {e.g., longitude and latitude coordinates) to autonomously operated delivery vehicles 1072. Such a routing machine executable instruction set {i.e., routing module 1032b) may also be executable by one or more controllers in an on-board processor-based routing module 1074a, 1074b installed in some or all of the delivery vehicles 1072a, 1072b. The application programs 1032 may further include one or more machine executable instructions sets {i.e., cooking module 1032c) capable of outputting cooking instructions to the cooking units, e.g., ovens 197 in a cargo compartment of each delivery vehicle 1072a, 1072b. The application programs 1032 may additionally include one or more machine executable instruction sets {i.e., assembly module 1032d) capable of providing instructions to one or more self-propelled food preparation appliances {e.g., self- propelled food preparation appliances 240) to cause the one or more self-propelled food preparation appliances to form at least a portion of a food preparation assembly line. Such executable instruction sets may be capable of providing instructions to one or more self-propelled food preparation appliances and a cleaning appliance to cause the one or more self-propelled food preparation appliances to be cleaned. Such executable instruction sets may be capable of providing instructions to one or more self-propelled food preparation appliances and a replenishment appliance to cause the one or more self-propelled food preparation appliances to be replenished and/or reloaded. The application programs 1032 may additionally include one or more machine executable instruction sets {i.e., moving module 1032e) capable of providing instructions to one or more self-propelled food preparation appliances {e.g., self-propelled food preparation appliances 240) to cause the one or more self-propelled food preparation appliances to move within and/or travel to a destination in a food- preparation floor space 101 .

Such cooking instructions can be determined by the central controller 1002 using any number of inputs including at least, the food type in a particular cooking unit or oven 197 and the available cooking time before each respective food item 202 is delivered to a consumer destination location. Such a cooking module machine executable instruction set may be executed in whole or in part by one or more controllers in the cooking module 1076 installed in some or all of the delivery vehicles 1072. In at least some instances, the routing module 1074 and/or the cooking module 1076 may provide a backup controller in the event central controller 1002 becomes communicably decoupled from the delivery vehicle 1072. In another implementation, the routing module 1074 and/or the cooking module 1076 installed in each delivery vehicle may include nontransitory storage to store routing and delivery itinerary data and cooking data communicated to the respective module by the controller 1002. The application programs 1032 may, for example, be stored as one or more executable instructions.

The system memory 1008 may also include other programs/modules 1034, such as including logic operable to calibrate and/or otherwise train various aspects of the central controller 1002. The other programs/modules 1034 may additionally include various other logic to perform various other operations and/or tasks.

The system memory 1008 may also include any number of communications programs 1040 to permit the central controller 1002 to access and exchange data with other systems or components, such as with the routing modules 1074, cooking modules 1076, and/or display devices 1078 installed in each of the delivery vehicles 1072.

While shown in Figure 10 as being stored in the system memory 1008, all or a portion of the operating system 1030, application programs 1032, other programs/modules 1034, drivers 1036, program data 1038 and communications programs 1040 can be stored on the persistent storage device 1020 of the one or more internal nontransitory storage systems 1018 or the removable persistent storage device 1026 of the one or more optional removable nontransitory storage systems 1022. A user can enter commands and information into the central controller 1002 using one or more input/output (I/O) devices 1042. Such I/O devices 1042 may include any current or future developed input device capable of transforming a user action or a received input signal to a digital input. Example input devices include, but are not limited to, a touchscreen, a physical or virtual keyboard, a microphone, a pointing device, or the like. These and other input devices are connected to the processing unit 1006 through an interface 1046 such as a universal serial bus ("USB") interface communicably coupled to the system bus 1010, although other interfaces such as a parallel port, a game port or a wireless interface or a serial port may be used. A display 1070 or similar output device is communicably coupled to the system bus 1010 via a video interface 1050, such as a video adapter or graphical processing unit ("GPU").

In some embodiments, the central controller 1002 operates in an environment using one or more of the network interfaces 1056 to optionally communicably couple to one or more remote computers, servers, display devices 1078 and/or other devices via one or more communications channels, for example, one or more networks such as the network 1 18, 120. These logical connections may facilitate any known method of permitting computers to communicate, such as through one or more LANs and/or WANs. Such networking environments are well known in wired and wireless enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, extranets, and the Internet.

Further, a database interface 1052, which is communicably coupled to the system bus 1010, may be used to establish communications with a database stored on one or more computer-readable media 1060 {e.g., a

database). For example, such a computer-readable media 1060 may include a repository operable to store information regarding food item cooking conditions as a function of time, etc. Description of Operation

The on-demand robotic food assembly line environment 100 includes, for example, one or more order front end processor-based control systems 104, one or more order assembly control systems 106, one or more on- demand robotic food preparation assembly lines 102 portions of which are communicably coupled to the at least one order assembly control system(s) 106 via a network 120, and one or more order dispatch and en route cooking control system 108 communicably coupled to the order front end server computer control system(s) 104 and/or to the order assembly control system(s) 106 via a network 120. In at least some implementations, a rack 199 can be used to transfer cooking units, e.g., ovens 197, containing prepared or partially prepared food items between the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly lines 102 and a delivery vehicle 1072a, 1072b (Figure 10, two shown, collectively 1072). Each delivery vehicle 1072 can have an on-board processor-based routing module 1074a, 1074b (Figure 10, two shown, collectively 1074) and an on-board processor-based cooking module 1076a, 1076b (Figure 10, two shown, collectively 1076), communicably coupled to each other and communicably coupled to the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108. Although illustrated or described as discrete components, some or all of the functions performed by the order front end server computer control system 104, order assembly control systems 106, order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108, routing module 1074, and cooking module 1076 may be shared between or combined and performed by another system component. For example, the order assembly control system 106 may perform various order entry functions rather than a dedicated the order front end processor-based control systems 104.

The order front end server computer control system(s) 104 can include one or more systems or devices used to coordinate the receipt or generation of food item orders. In at least some instances, the order front end server computer control system(s) 104 can receive food orders placed by consumers using any number or variety of sources. In some instances, the order front end server computer control system(s) 104 may include a telephonic interface to conventional or voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephonic equipment. Such telephonic interfaces may be in the form of automated or semi-automated interfaces where the consumer enters data by entering a defined key sequence corresponding to a desired food product, destination address, delivery time, etc. Some telephonic interfaces may include an attendant operated interface where the consumer places a verbal order with the attendant who then enters data

corresponding to a desired food product, destination address, delivery time, etc. into the order front end processor-based control systems 104, for example using a touchscreen or keyboard entry device. In some instances, the order front end processor-based control systems 104 may include a network interface, for example a network interface communicably coupled to the Internet, over which orders may be placed via smartphone 1 10b (Figure 1 A), or via any type of computing device 1 10a, 1 10c (Figure 1 A). In such instances, order information corresponding to a desired food item, destination address, delivery time, and the like may be provided by the consumer in a format requiring minimal or no reformatting by the order front end processor-based control systems 104.

In various implementations, in addition to receiving consumer orders via telephone, smartphone 1 10b, or computing device 1 10a, 1 10c, the order front end processor-based control systems 104 can do more than simply aggregate received consumer food item orders. For example, the order front end processor- based control systems 104 may include one or more machine learning or similar algorithms useful to predict the demand for certain food items. For example, the order front end processor-based control systems 104 may include one or more machine learning algorithms able to correlate or otherwise logically associate the ordering of a number of particular food items {e.g., pepperoni pizzas) in a constrained geographic area {e.g., a college campus) over the course of a defined temporal period {e.g., Friday evenings between 9:00 PM and 12:00 AM) or during one or more defined events {e.g., during a football or basketball game in which the college is represented). In such instances, the order front end processor-based control systems 104 may autonomously generate orders for production of the particular food items in anticipation of orders that will be, but have not yet, been received.

In at least some instances, the order front end processor-based control systems 104 can provide the consumer placing an order for a food item with an estimated delivery time for the item. In at least some instances, the estimated delivery time may be based on the time to produce the food item in the production module plus the estimated time to cook the food item in transit by the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108. Such estimated delivery times may take into account factors such as the complexity of preparation and the time required for the desired or defined cooking process associated with the ordered food item. Such estimated delivery times may also take into account factors such as road congestion, traffic, time of day, and other factors affecting the delivery of the food item by the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108. In other instances, the estimated delivery time may reflect the availability of the ordered food item on a delivery vehicle that has been pre-staged in a particular area.

The order assembly control system(s) 106 can schedule the production of food items by the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 in accordance with the received or generated orders, estimated assembly and estimated transit time to destination using real time or expected transit conditions. The order assembly control system(s) 106 can generate and update a fulfillment queue to schedule the production based at least in part on the estimated assembly and estimated transit time to destination and the time that the order was received. Thus, order assembly control system(s) 106 may place some orders in the fulfillment queue in a different order than received, for example placing orders with relatively longer transit times ahead of orders that were received earlier but which have relatively shorter transit times. The order assembly control system(s) 106 can dynamically revise the fulfillment queue based on real time or estimated conditions and based on demand and/or timing of receipt of various orders.

In some instances, the order assembly control systems 106 may be collocated with or even incorporated into the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly lines 102. Responsive to receipt of one or more outputs provided by the order assembly control systems 106, food items are prepared or assembled by the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102. In at least some

instances, the order assembly control system 106 may determine an arrangement of one or more food preparation appliances operable to prepare and/or cook the food items. The arrangement of the one or more food preparation appliances may be based, for example, on the type of food item to be prepared, the arrangement of resources {e.g., power-supply outlets 121 , fuel supply connections 1 13 that may provide natural gas and/or propane) within and/or proximate the food-preparation floor space 101 , and the types of food-preparation appliance available. Upon determining such arrangement, the order assembly control system 106 may generate and transmit one or more instructions to be transmitted to one or more self-propelled food preparation appliances 240. Such instructions may cause the one or more self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 to move towards a destination within the food-preparation floor space 101 based upon the determined arrangement.

In some implementations, the instructions from the order assembly control systems 106 can supply a destination, e.g., defined position within the food preparation floor space 101 , or work station 124 or docking station on the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, the order assembly control systems 106 can supply coordinates to identify the destination. In some

implementations, the instructions form the order assembly control systems 106 may include a motion plan to specify a path for the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 to follow to the destination. For instance, such a path may include a route to a position {e.g., docking station, work station) on the food preparation assembly line 102 and/or food preparation floor space 101 , to a replenishment appliance 105, and/or cleaning appliance 107. In some implementations, the motion plan may include one or more timed locations that may indicate specific locations along the route at which the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 is to remain stationary for a specified period of time. Such timed location may alternatively or additionally indicate specific times that the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 is to depart from specified locations along the route. The motion plan can additionally, or alternatively, include a path or function related to one or more appendages, end of arm tools or end effectors of the self-propelled food preparation appliance.

In at least some instances, the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 may autonomously perform the preparation or assembly of at least a portion of the uncooked food products at the direction of the order assembly control systems 106. For example, crust dough may be kneaded and formed, sauce deposited and spread and cheese and pepperoni placed on top of the sauce using one or more automated or semi-automated systems upon receipt or generation of food item order data indicative of a pepperoni pizza by the order assembly control systems 106. Each of the prepared or assembled food items provided by the on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 can be loaded or otherwise placed into one or more cooking units, e.g., ovens 197

(Figures 1 A and 1 B). The cooking units can then be placed into a cooking rack 199 (Figure 1 B) to transfer the prepared or assembled food items from the on- demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 to the delivery vehicle 1072 (Figure 10).

In some instances, the order assembly control systems 106 may track information related to the contents of each oven 197 and/or speed rack 201 . For example, the order assembly control systems 106 may track for each oven 197 and/or slot in the speed rack 201 the type of food item {e.g., par-baked shell, pepperoni pizza, etc.), the size of the food item, and/or the time that the food item was placed in the speed rack 201 or oven 197. In some instances, the order assembly control system 106 may set a time limit for keeping each food item within the speed rack 201 or oven 197. If the time limit expires for one of the food items, the order assembly control system 106 may alert a user to discard the food item. The order assembly control system 106 may require that the user provide an input to confirm that the identified food item has been discarded. Such input may include, for example, pressing a switch associated with the oven 197 containing the food item to be discarded or acknowledging a prompt on a computer screen. In some implementations, the order assembly control system 106 may include one or more sensors or imagers that may indicate that the user has removed the identified food item. Such sensors may include, for example, one or more imagers {e.g. cameras) that may be used to visually confirm that the oven 197 is empty and/or that the food item has been placed in a waste basket. Such sensors may include one or more sensors on the oven door that can detect when the door to the oven 197 has been opened. In some instances, the order assembly control system 106 may automatically discard food items for which the associated time limit has expired.

In some instances, the order assembly control systems 106 may be a portion of or may be communicably coupled to an inventory control or enterprise business system such that the inventory of food ingredients and other items is maintained at one or more defined levels within the on-demand robotic food assembly line(s) 102. In some instances, where the order assembly control system 106 and the on-demand robotic food assembly line(s) 102 are discrete entities, the network 120 (Figure 1 A) communicably coupling the order assembly control systems 106 to the on-demand robotic food assembly line(s) 102 can be a wired network, a wireless network, or any combination thereof. The network 120 can include a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a worldwide network, a private network, a corporate intranet, a worldwide public network such as the Internet, or any combination thereof. In at least some instances, all or a portion of the order front end server computer control system(s) 104 and/or order assembly control system(s) 106 can be located remote from the on-demand robotic food assembly line(s) 102, for example in a corporate server, or in a network connected or "cloud" based server.

In some instances, the order assembly control systems 106 may track the assembly and progress of each food item 202 that progresses through the on-demand robotic food assembly line(s) 102. Positioning information may be calculated, for example, by monitoring the speed of each of the conveyors 122a after the round of dough or flatten dough 202a is loaded at the beginning of the first or primary assembly conveyor 122a. One or more sensors or imagers {e.g., cameras) 142 may be positioned along the path of the conveyors 122, including the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b, and the by-pass conveyors 160c, to confirm that the positioning information is correct.

For example, one or more sensors or imagers {e.g., cameras) 142 may be positioned with a field-of-view that encompasses a front of an assembly line, for instance prior to a sauce dispenser, to assess a size, shape, thickness and, or texture of dough prior to sauce being applied. The acquired information can be used to reject unsuitable dough, and, or used to generate a tool path to spread sauce on the dough or to deposit toppings on the dough (either without sauce, after application of sauce, or before application of sauce).

For example, one or more sensors or imagers {e.g., cameras) 142 may be positioned with a field-of-view that encompasses a toppings deposition area {e.g., one or more locations at which toppings are deposited on dough or sauced dough) or just following a toppings disposition area, for instance prior to a sauce dispenser, to assess a size, shape, thickness and, or texture of dough prior to sauce being applied. The acquired information can be used to assess the distribution of toppings {e.g., both quantity distribution of toppings and, or spatial distribution). In response to determination that a topping distribution is unsuitable, the food item may be returned for distribution of additional toppings, or otherwise rejected with a replacement order placed. Performing such an inspection prior to par-baking or baking allows the toppings to be more easily discerned in contrast to performing such after cheese may have melted.

For example, one or more sensors or imagers {e.g., cameras) 142 may be positioned with a field-of-view that encompasses an interior of the ovens 197, or a field-of-view that encompasses an exit of the ovens 197 or just downstream of the ovens 197. For example, one or more sensors or imagers {e.g., cameras) 142 may have a field-of-view that encompasses a top of the food items, a bottom of the food items, and/or a side of the food items either in the ovens 197 or at the exit of the ovens 197 or even downstream of the ovens 197. One or more machine-vision systems may be employed to determine whether the par-baked, or even fully baked, food items {e.g., pizzas) are properly cooked based on images captured by the one or more sensors or imagers {e.g., cameras) 142. The machine-vision system may optionally employ machine-learning, being trained on a set of training data, to recognize when the food is properly par-baked or even fully cooked, based on captured images or image data. In some instances, this can be combined with a weight sensor {e.g., strain gauge, load cell) to determine when the item of food is properly prepared, for example determining when an item is cooked based at least in part on a sensed weight where the desired weight is dependent on sufficient water having been evaporated or cooked off.

The system {e.g., machine-learning system, machine-vision system) may, for example, determine whether a top of the food item is a desired color or colors and, or consistency, for instance determining whether there is too little, too much or an adequate or desired amount of bubbling of melted cheese, too little, too much or an adequate or desired amount of blackening or charring, too little, too much or an adequate or desired amount of curling of a topping {e.g., curling of pepperoni slices), too little, too much or an adequate or desired amount of shrinkage of a topping {e.g., vegetables). The system may, for example, determine whether a bottom of the food item is a desired color or colors, for instance determining whether there is too little, too much or an adequate or desired amount of blackening or charring.

Additionally or alternatively, one or more electronic noses may be distributed at various points to detect scents which may be indicative of a desired property of the food item or prepared food item. For example, one or more electronic noses can detect via scent when cheese bubbles and crust forms.

Electronic noses may employ one or more sensors {e.g., MOSFET devices, conducting polymers, polymer composites, or surface acoustic wave (SAW) microelectronic systems (MEMS) to detect compounds, for example volatile compounds).

Also for example, one or more sensors or imagers {e.g., cameras) 142 may be positioned with a field-of-view that encompasses a portion of an assembly line just prior to loading the food items in packaging, or transit refrigerators or transit ovens (refrigerators or ovens in which food items are transported in vehicles). The acquired information can be used to assess whether the food item has been correctly prepared, has the correct toppings and a satisfactory distribution {e.g., quantity and spatial distributions), does not contain foreign matter, has been correctly par-baked or evenly cooked. In response to determination that any single characteristic of the food time is unsuitable {e.g., outside a defined threshold or range of values), the food item may rejected with a replacement order placed.

One or more machine-learning systems may be employed to learn when a food item, at one or more points of assembly, meet some expectation or standard. For example, a machine-learning system may learn what type of toppings are found on each of a set of defined pizzas that are available to order {e.g., meat lovers pizza pie, veggie pizza pie, plain cheese pizza pie, pepperoni pizza pie), The machine-learning system may be adaptive, able to self-classify ingredients or toppings, for instance cheese versus pepperoni. The machine- learning system may be able to identify a new ingredient or topping, and over time associate such with a new pizza added to the set of defined pizzas.

The machine-learning system may be used to evaluate information {e.g., captured images or image data) captured via one or more machine-vision systems, for example determining what type of food item {e.g., what type of pizza) a given food item is, and assessing whether the food item belongs to a given order and, or matches the ordered food item. For example, the machine-learning system may determine whether the food item is correct {e.g., pizza has the correct toppings, has the correct curst {e.g., gluten versus gluten free), has the correct sauce). For instance, a gluten-free pizza can be visually discerned relative to one that includes gluten in the crust, for instance via a three-dimensional (3D) camera system. Also for example, the machine-learning system may determine whether the food item meets other desired criteria or properties {e.g., pizza has an adequate distribution of toppings, is evenly cooked, has adequate amounts and not too much charring, desired shape, desired size, desired spices). For instance, height of cheese and, or toppings may be assessed via a three-dimensional (3D) camera system, and the machine-learning system may be used assure that the height is within a range of acceptable heights with an upper and a lower bound, which may have been learned over a training data set. If a food item is incorrect or does not meet various criteria, the food item can either be diverted to be repaired, or can be sent to a waste receptacle and in response a replacement order placed in the queue, perhaps expedited to a point closer to actually being assembled than other orders in the queue, for instance to meet a desired time to delivery

guarantee.

The cooking and/or conveyors and robots or other mechanisms can be automatically controlled based on any one or more of machine-vision based determinations, weight determinations, and, or detected scent based

determinations, and some defined criteria or conditions. Additionally or alternatively, the ovens, conveyors and/or robots can be automatically controlled based on any one or more of machine-vision based determinations, weight determinations, and, or detected scent based determinations, and some defined criteria or conditions. Additionally or alternatively, one or more robotic appendages {e.g., mechanical fingers) or a turntable or other actuator can be automatically controlled based on any one or more of machine-vision based determinations, weight determinations, and, or detected scent based determinations, and some defined criteria or conditions, for example turning an item {e.g., rotating a pizza to achieve even cooking or desired charring). While often described in terms of pizza, the structures and techniques can be applied to other food items, for instance fried chicken or burritos.

In some implementations, an edible RFID tag or other edible device may be incorporated into each round of dough or flatten dough 202a to provide tracking capabilities and positioning information for each food item 202 traveling along the on-demand robotic food assembly line(s) 102. In some instances, the order assembly control systems 106 may label the packaging 176 with identifying information after the completed food item 202 has been loaded into the packaging 176. Such information may include human-readable symbols and/or machine- readable symbols {e.g., barcodes, QR codes, and/or RFID tags). Such labels may include other information, such as the time the food item 202 was placed in the oven 197, driver, destination, order number, and the cooking temperature information for the food item 202 included in the packaging 176. The order assembly control systems 106 may associate this uniquely identifying information for the packaging 176 may be associated with the specific rack or oven 197 into which the packaging 176 is loaded.

In some instances, the order assembly control systems 106 may track the use of par-baked pizza 202g through the on-demand robotic food assembly line(s) 102. As such, the order assembly control systems 106 may store information regarding the number and location of par-baked shells 202g stored within various racks 199. The order assembly control systems 106 may track the progress of the par-baked shells 202g through the various conveyors 122, including the cooking conveyors 160a, 160b and the by-pass conveyors 160c.

The cooking units, e.g., ovens 197 (Figures 1 A and 1 B, containing the prepared, uncooked or partially cooked, food items can be placed in a rack 199 (Figure 1 B), also denominated as a "cooking rack." The rack 199 can include various components or systems to support the operation of the cooking units contained in the rack 199, for example a power distribution bus, a communications bus, and the like. Power and cooking condition instructions are supplied to the cooking units either individually or via the power distribution and communications buses in the rack 199.

Cooking conditions within each of the cooking units, e.g., ovens 197 (Figures 1 and 2), are controlled en route to the consumer destination such that the food in the cooking unit is cooked shortly prior to or upon arrival at the consumer destination. In at least some instances, the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 can communicate via network 1 18 with the on-board processor-based cooking module 1076 (Figure 10) to control some or all cooking conditions and cooking functions in each of the cooking units. In some instances, the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 can also determine an optimal delivery itinerary, estimated delivery times, and available cooking times for each cooking unit. In other instances an on-board processor-based routing module 1074 (Figure 10) communicably coupled to the order dispatch and en route cooking control system(s) 108 can provide some or all of the delivery routing instructions, including static or dynamic delivery itinerary preparation and time of arrival estimates that are used to determine the available cooking time and to control or otherwise adjust cooking conditions within the cooking units. In some instances, an on-board processor-based cooking module 1076 (Figure 10) communicably coupled to the rack 199 or vehicle (not shown) can provide some or all of the adjustments to cooking conditions within the cooking units such that the food items in each of the respective cooking units are cooked shortly before arrival at the consumer destination. In at least some instances, the order dispatch and en route cooking control system(s) 108 (Figure 1 A) may use data provided by the routing on-board processor-based cooking module 1076 (Figure 10) to determine cooking conditions within some or all of the cooking units. In yet other instances, standalone loop controllers may be located within each cooking unit to control some or all functions including power delivery and/or cooking conditions in the respective cooking unit.

In some instances, the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 may track information related to the contents of each oven 197 and/or speed rack 201 that has been loaded into a delivery vehicle 1072. For example, the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 may track for each oven 197 and/or slot in the speed rack 201 the type of food item {e.g., par-baked shell, pepperoni pizza, etc.), the size of the food item, and/or the time that the food item was placed in the speed rack 201 or oven 197. In some instances, order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 may communicate with one or more other systems, such as the order assembly control system 106, to determine the overall time that a food item has been placed in the speed rack 201 or oven 197, including time before the speed rack 201 or oven 197 was loaded into the delivery vehicle 1072. The order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 may set a time limit to keep each food item within the speed rack 201 or oven 197. If the time limit expires for one of the food items, the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 may alert a user to discard the food item. The order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 may require that the user provide an input to confirm that the identified food item has been discarded. Such input may include, for example, pressing a switch associated with the oven 197 containing the food item to be discarded or acknowledging a prompt on a computer screen. In some implementations, the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 may include one or more sensors or imagers that may indicate that the user has removed the identified food item. Such sensors may include, for example, one or more images {e.g. cameras) that may be used to visually confirm that the oven 197 is empty and/or that the food item has been placed in a waste basket. Such sensors may include sensors on the oven door that can detect when the door to the oven 197 has been opened. In some instances, the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 may automatically discard food items for which the associated time limit has expired.

In at least some instances, the location of each cooking unit or rack 199 or delivery vehicle 1072 (Figure 10) may be monitored using geolocation information. Such geolocation information may be determined through the use of time-of-flight triangulation performed by the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 and/or on-board processor-based routing module 1074a, 1074b (Figure 10). Such geolocation information may be determined using one or more global positioning technologies, for example the Global Positioning System (GPS) or similar. The order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108, the on-board processor-based routing module 1074a, 1074b (Figure 10), and/or the on-board processor-based cooking module 1076 (Figure 10) may use the location information to statically or dynamically create and/or update delivery itinerary information and estimated time of arrival information for each consumer destination. The order dispatch and en route cooking control system(s) 108 and/or the on-board processor-based cooking module 1076 (Figure 10) may use such information to control or otherwise adjust the cooking conditions in some or all of the cooking units, e.g., ovens 197. In at least some instances, all or a portion of the determined geolocation information associated with a consumer's food item(s) may be provided to the consumer, for example via a Website, computer program, or smartphone application. The order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 can generate a manifest or itinerary for each delivery vehicle 1072. The order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 can dynamically update the manifest or itinerary for each delivery vehicle 1072, for example based on real-time traffic conditions. Upon delivery, the driver or other operator may scan the machine-readable symbol attached to the package 176 to confirm delivery using the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108.

The approach described herein advantageously and significantly reduces the time required for delivery of prepared food items to consumer destinations by cooking or completing the cooking of food items within cooking units. For example, the cooking of food items can be completed using individually controllable cooking units, e.g., ovens 197, on a delivery vehicle 1072 (Figure 10) instead of a more conventional stationary cooking unit such as a range or oven located in a "bricks and mortar" facility. By moving at least a portion of the cooking process to vehicle (not shown), the overall time required to prepare, cook, and deliver food items to a consumer location is reduced and the overall quality of the delivered food items is improved. Significantly, the time for delivery and quality of delivered food is improved over current systems in which food items are cooked in a central location and then loaded onto a delivery vehicle 1072 (Figure 10) for delivery to the consumer location. Even more advantageously, by dynamically adjusting the delivery itinerary and controlling the cooking conditions within the cooking units to reflect the updated expected arrival times at the consumer locations, the impact of unanticipated traffic and congestion on the quality of the delivered food items is beneficially reduced or even eliminated.

As depicted and described, food items 202 (Figure 1 B) are prepared by on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 (Figure 1 B), using equipment that includes various conveyors and robots. The food items 202 are loaded into cooking units, e.g., ovens 197 (Figures 1 A and 1 B), which can be placed in racks 199 (Figure 1 B). The racks 199, each containing one or more individual cooking units, are loaded in delivery vehicles 1072 (Figure 10). While in transit to each of a number of consumer delivery locations, the cooking conditions within each of the cooking units are adjusted to complete the cooking process shortly before delivery of the food items 202 to the consumer. After the food item 202 is placed in the packaging 176, 190 (Figure 1 B), the transport container is prepared for delivery to the consumer. Beneficially, the cooking and loading of the food item 202 into the packaging 176, 190 is performed autonomously, without human intervention. Thus, subject to local and state regulation, such automated cooking and delivery systems may subject the operator to fewer or less rigorous health inspections than other systems requiring human intervention. For instance, the delivery vehicle may not be required to have all of the same equipment as a standard food preparation area (e.g., adequate hand washing facility). Also for instance, delivery personnel may not be subject to the same regulations as food preparers (e.g., having training, passing testing, possessing a food workers' certificate or card). More beneficially, by cooking and packaging the food items 202 in the delivery vehicle 1072, a higher quality food product may be provided to the consumer.

Each of the cooking units, e.g., ovens 197 (Figure 1 B) includes a housing disposed at least partially about an interior cavity formed by one or more surfaces. Food items are cooked under defined cooking conditions within the interior cavity. A hinged or otherwise displaceable door 198 (Figure 1 B) is used to isolate the interior cavity from the external environment. In at least some instances, the door 198 may be mechanically or electro-mechanically held closed while the cooking process is underway. The cooking unit can include a heat source or heat element that is used to provide heat to the interior cavity. In addition to the heat source or heating element, additional elements such as convection fan(s), humidifiers, gas burners, or similar (not shown in Figure for clarity) may be installed in place of or along with the heat source or heat element in the cooking unit.

Each cooking unit can include one or more indicators or display panels that provide information about and/or the cook status of the food item in the respective cooking unit. In some instances, a plurality of cooking units can share one or more indicators or display panels that provide information about and/or the cook status of the food item in the respective cooking unit. In some instances the display panel may include a text display that provides information such as the type of food item 202 (Figure 1 B) in the cooking unit; consumer name and location information associated with the food item in the cooking unit; the cook status of the food item 202 in the cooking unit {e.g., "DONE," "COMPLETE," "2 MIN

REMAINING"); or combinations thereof. In other instances, the display panel may include one or more indicators that provide the cook status of the food item 202 in the cooking unit {e.g., GREEN = "DONE;" YELLOW = "<5 MIN REMAINING;" RED = ">5 MIN REMAINING"). The data provided to the display may be provided by an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108, routing module 1074, and cooking module 1076, or any combination thereof. In at least some instances, the display can include a controller capable of independently controlling the cooking conditions within its respective cooking unit. In such instances,

information indicative of the cooking conditions for the cooking unit may be provided to the display in the form of any number of set points or other similar control parametric data by order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108, routing module 1074, and cooking module 1076, or any combination thereof.

One or more power interfaces (not shown) may be disposed in, on, or about each of the cooking units. The power interface is used to provide at least a portion of the power to the cooking unit. Such power may be in the form of electrical power generated by the delivery vehicle 1072 (Figure 10) or by a generator installed on the delivery vehicle 1072. Such power may be in the form of a combustible gas {e.g., hydrogen, propane, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas) supplied from a combustible gas reservoir carried by the delivery vehicle. In some instances, two or more power interfaces may be installed, for example one electrical power interface supplying power to the display and a convection fan and one combustible gas power interface supplying energy to the heating element may be included on a single cooking unit. One or more power distribution devices can be located in each rack 199 (Figure 1 B) such that the corresponding cooking unit power interface is physically and/or electrically coupled to the appropriate power distribution device when the cooking unit is placed in the rack. The power distribution devices can include an electrical bus that distributes electrical power to some or all of the cooking units inserted into the rack. The power distribution devices can include a gas distribution header or manifold to distribute a combustible gas to some or all of the cooking units inserted into the rack. In at least some instances, the power distribution devices may include one or more quick connect or similar devices to physically and/or electrically couple the power distribution devices to the

appropriate power distribution system {e.g., electrical, combustible gas, or other) onboard the delivery vehicle 1072.

One or more communications interfaces (not shown) may be disposed in, on, or about each of the cooking units. The communications interface is used to bi-directionally communicate at least data indicative of the cooking conditions existent within the respective cooking unit. The communications interface can include a wireless communications interface, a wired

communications interface, or any combination thereof. Some or all of the power to operate the communications interface can be provided by the power interface. In at least some instances, the communications interface can provide bidirectional wireless communication with the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108. In at least some instances, the communications interface can provide bidirectional wired or wireless communication with a vehicle mounted system such as the routing module 1074 and/or cooking module 1076 (Figure 10). Instructions including data indicative of the cooking conditions within the cooking unit can be communicated to the display via the communications interfaces. In at least some implementations such instructions may include one or more cooking parameters {e.g., oven temperature = 425°F, air flow = HIGH, humidity = 65%, pressure = 1 ATM) and/or one or more system parameters {e.g., set flame size = LOW) associated with completing or finishing the cooking of the food item in the respective cooking unit based on an estimated time of arrival at the consumer destination location. Such cooking parameters may be determined at least in part by the cooking module 1076 (Figure 10) based on estimated time of arrival information provided by the routing module 1074 (Figure 10).

One or more wired or wireless communications buses can be located in each rack 199 (Figure 1 B) such that the corresponding cooking unit

communications interface is communicably coupled to the communications bus when the cooking unit, e.g., 197 (Figures 1 A and 1 B), is placed in the rack 199. In at least some instances, the communications buses may be wiredly or wirelessly communicably coupled to the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108, the routing module 1074, the cooking module 1076 (Figure 10) or any combination thereof.

Each of the racks 199 can accommodate the insertion of any number of cooking units. The cooking conditions within each of the cooking units inserted into a common rack 199 can be individually adjusted to control the completion time of the particular food item within the cooking unit. Although the rack 199 may accommodate the insertion of multiple cooking units, the rack 199 need not be completely filled with cooking units during operation. In at least some

implementations, each of the racks 199 may be equipped with any number of moving devices to facilitate the movement of the cooking rack 199. Such moving devices can take any form including rollers, casters, wheels, and the like.

In at least some instances, the routing module 1074 and/or an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A) can be bi- directionally communicably coupled to a display device 1078a, 1078b (two shown, collectively 1078) located in the delivery vehicle 1072. The display device 1078 can provide the driver of the delivery vehicle 1072 with routing information in the form of text directions, voice instructions, or a map. In addition, the display device 1078 can also provide the driver of the delivery vehicle 1072 with a manifest or delivery itinerary that lists a number of consumer delivery destinations and provides a local estimated time of arrival at each respective consumer delivery destination. The routing information and the manifest or delivery itinerary can be determined in whole or in part by the routing module 1074, the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), or any combination thereof.

The order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A) and/or the cooking module 1076 can establish, control, or adjust cooking conditions in each of the cooking units, e.g., ovens 197 (Figures 1 and 2), based at least in part on the available cooking time. Such cooking conditions may be determined by the an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108, the cooking module 1076, or some combination thereof, such that food items are advantageously delivered to the consumer destination location shortly after cooking has completed. In at least some instances real time updating, for example to reflect traffic conditions between the current location of the delivery vehicle 1072 and the delivery destination may cause the an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 and/or routing module 1074 to autonomously dynamically update the manifest or delivery itinerary. New available cooking times for each delivery destination location can be determined by the an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108, routing module 1 074, the cooking module 1076, or any combination thereof, based on the updated manifest or delivery itinerary. Cooking conditions in each of the cooking units, e.g., ovens 197, can be adjusted throughout the delivery process to reflect the newly estimated times of arrival using the dynamically updated manifest or delivery itinerary. The routing module 1074 provides the updated manifest or delivery itinerary and the

recalculated available cooking times to the cooking module 1076. In at least some instances, data indicative of the location of the delivery vehicle 1072 and the estimated delivery time may be provided to the consumer via electronic mail {i.e., email) or SMS messaging, web portal access, or any other means of

communication. Figure 1 1 shows a method 1 100 of order processing, according to one illustrated implementation. The order processing method 1 100 can, for example, be executed by one or more processor-based devices, for instance an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A).

The method 1 100 starts at 1 102, for example on powering up of an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A), or on invocation by a calling routine.

At 1 104, a processor-based device, for example the order front end server computer control system 104, receives an order. The order typically specifies one or more items of food, delivery destination {e.g., address), time of order, optionally a delivery time, and a name associated with the order.

At 1 106, the processor-based device, for example the order front end server computer control system 104, adds the order to an order queue, typically assigning each order a unique identifier {e.g., number), which uniquely identifies the order at least over some defined period of time {e.g., 24 hours). The order queue can be a list or queue of orders arranged in sequence according to the time of receipt of the order by the order front end server computer control system 104.

At 1 108, the processor-based device, for example the order front end server computer control system 104, notifies the order assembly control system 106 of the receipt of the order or the updating of the order queue.

At 1 1 10, the processor-based device, for example the order front end server computer control system 104, notifies the dispatch and/or en route cooking method 1400 of the receipt of the order or the updating of the order queue.

Optionally at 1 1 12, the processor-based device, for example the order front end server computer control system 104, notifies the customer of the pending order and/or timing of delivery and/or status of the order. The order front end server computer control system 104 can send updates to the customer from time-to-time, at least until the order is delivered. The method 1 100 terminates at 1 1 14, for example until invoked again. Alternatively, the method 1 100 may repeat continuously or repeatedly, or may execute as multiple instances of a multi-threaded process.

Figure 12 shows a method 1200 of controlling on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102, according to one illustrated implementation. The order processing method 1200 can, for example, be executed by one or more processor-based devices, for instance an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), or alternatively an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A). The order processing method 1200 can, for example, interact with the method 1 100 (Figure 1 1 ).

The method 1200 starts at 1202, for example on powering up of an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), or powering up of an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A), or on invocation by a calling routine.

At 1204, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), or alternatively an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A), checks the order queue for new orders. Such can be performed periodically or in response to receipt of a notification of a new order or notification of an update to the order queue.

At 1206, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), or alternatively an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A), determines an estimated time to assemble and estimated time to deliver at delivery destination. The estimated time to assemble may be a fixed time, or may account for a current or anticipated level of demand for production. The estimated time to deliver at delivery destination can take into account an estimated or expected time to transport the order from a production facility to the delivery destination. Such can take into account anticipated or even real-time traffic information, including slowdowns, accidents and/or detours. Such can also take into account a manifest or itinerary associated with a delivery vehicle. For instance, if the delivery vehicle will need to make four deliveries before delivering the subject order, the transit and drop off time associated with those preceding four deliveries is taken into account.

Additionally or alternatively, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), or alternatively an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A), determines or evaluates one or more other conditions to place a food item order in the fulfillment queue in a different order than received {i.e., order queue). For example, the processor- based device may expedite certain orders, for instance orders based on delivery locations which are geographically proximate delivery locations for other food item orders. Thus, the processor-based device may expedite certain food orders to group based on efficiency of delivery. In executing such, the processor-based device may take into account an ability to timely delivery all grouped or bundled orders. For example, if there is a commitment to deliver a first order within a first total time {i.e., delivery time guarantee) from order receipt, the processor-based device may determine whether a second order with delivery location that is geographically proximate a delivery locations of the first order will interfere with meeting the delivery time guarantee for the first order and while also meeting the delivery time guarantee for the second order. For instance, the second order might delay the departure of the delivery vehicle by a first estimated amount of time {i.e., first time delay). . For instance, the second order might increase the transit time of the delivery vehicle by an estimated amount of time {i.e., second time delay). Such increase transit time can be the result of varying a route or manifest of the delivery vehicle and/or based on an increase in traffic due to the delay in departure and/or change in route or manifest. The processor-based device determines whether the delays {e.g., first and second time delays) would prevent or likely prevent the first order from being delivered within the delivery time guarantee and/or prevent or likely prevent the second order from being delivered within the delivery time guarantee. The processor-based device can perform a similar comparison for all orders to be delivered by a given delivery vehicle in a given sort. Also for example, the processor-based device may, for instance expedite orders from highly valued customers, loyalty club members, replacement orders where there was a mis-delivery or mistake in an order, orders from customers willing to pay an expedited handling fee, or orders from celebrity customers or influential customers.

At 1208, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), or alternatively an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A), reviews an existing fulfillment queue. The fulfillment queue is a list or queue of food orders in a sequence in which the food orders will be assembled. The fulfillment queue will typically include various food orders in a sequence or order that is different from the sequence or order in which the food orders were received. The processor-based device dynamically updates the fulfillment queue to queue new orders, and to remove completed or fulfilled orders {e.g., assembled and placed in ovens, and/or dispatched).

Consequently, at any given time the sequence or order of the fulfillment queue is likely different from the sequence or order of the order queue. In particular, the order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A) finds a location in the fulfillment queue to add a new order while maintaining a respective estimated delivery time of each order in the fulfillment queue within some acceptable bounds {e.g., 20 minutes).

At 1210, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), or alternatively an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A), adds the new order to the fulfillment queue, while maintaining a respective estimated delivery time of each order in the fulfillment queue within some acceptable bounds {e.g., 20 minutes).

At 1212, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), or alternatively an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A), notifies the order front end server computer control system(s) 104 of the update to the fulfillment queue.

At 1214, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), or alternatively an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A), notifies the order dispatch and en route cooking control system(s) 108 of the update to the fulfillment queue.

The method 1200 terminates at 1216, for example until invoked again. Alternatively, the method 1200 may repeat continuously or repeatedly, or may execute as multiple instances of a multi-threaded process.

Figure 13 shows a method 1300 of controlling on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102, according to one illustrated implementation. The on-demand robotic food assembly line controlling method 1300 can, for example, be executed by one or more processor-based devices, for instance an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A). The order processing method 1300 can, for example, be employed with the method 1200 (Figure 12). The order processing method 1300 can, for example, interact with the method 1 100 (Figure 1 1 ).

The method 1300 starts at 1302, for example on powering up of an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), or powering up of an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A), or on invocation by a calling routine.

At 1304, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), generates a workflow for each order in the fulfillment queue. The order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A) can take the highest ranked order in the fulfillment queue, one food order at a time.

Alternatively, order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A) can processor multiple orders in parallel, particularly where there is more than one on-demand robotic food preparation assembly lines 102 (Figure 1 A). The workflow specifies a series of operations or acts required to produce the desired or ordered food item. For example, a workflow may specify, in sequence: application of a particular sauce and/or volume of sauce, application of a particular cheese or cheeses and/or volume of cheese {e.g., double cheese), application of none, one or more toppings and/or volume of toppings {e.g., double sausage), an amount of cook time {e.g., par-bake) or speed through an oven, an amount of charring, application of fresh toppings, number of slices, etc.

At 1306, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), generates or selects commands based on the workflow. Typically, all or most operations or acts will be repetitive, hence defined sets of commands corresponding to respective ones of the operations or acts will be stored in non-transitory storage media, for example in a library of commands. The order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A) selects the appropriate commands from the library, or if necessary generates commands for operations or acts for which the commands do not yet exist. The commands may be machine- executable commands, executable by the various pieces of equipment {e.g., sauce dispensers, robots, ovens, conveyors) of the one on-demand robotic food preparation assembly lines 102 (Figure 1 A).

At 1308, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A) sends the commands to the pieces of equipment of the one on-demand robotic food preparation assembly lines 102 (Figure 1 A). The commands can be sent either directly to the pieces of equipment by order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), or indirectly. Commands may, for example, be stored in registers of one or more PLCs, processors, or other logic circuitry and are executable by one or more PLCs, processors, or other logic circuitry. The commands specify the movement and timing of various actions, e.g., dispensing sauce, retrieving and dispensing cheeses, retrieving and dispensing toppings, transferring between conveyors, retrieving and placing packaging, retrieving loaded packing and loading into ovens, etc. Commands can include a command to take an action, a command that specifies the action to be taken {e.g., drive signal to various motors, solenoids or other actuators), and/or in some instance a command that specifies that no action is to be taken. In some instances, there may be one or more motor controllers intermediate the PLCs and the electric motors, solenoids or other actuators. Commands can, for example, include commands to load a pizza from a primary assembly line to one of two or more cooking conveyors based, for example, on whether one of the cooking conveyors is ready to accept a new item. Commands can, for example, include commands to hold a pizza on a transfer conveyor until a downstream piece of equipment is available for loading.

The commands may, for example, be executed out of the registers in sequence upon detection of a trigger or receipt of a trigger signal. Notably, the food items may be sequenced down an assembly line in a given order, and the commands in the fulfillment queue or registers can be in the same order as the food items. In fact, such may even be inherent for pizzas which may all start with identical rounds of dough and which are only assembled into the desired

customized order based on sequential execution of the commands. All or some of the pieces of equipment may be associated with one or more sensors, typically positioned slightly upstream of the respective piece of equipment relative to a direction of movement of the assembly line. The sensors can take a variety of forms, for instance a simple "electric eye" where a light {e.g., infrared) source emits a beam of light across the assembly line and a detector {e.g., photodiode) detects a break in the light as indicating the passage of a food item. The detector generates a triggers signal in response, which is relayed to the associated piece of equipment which, in response, executes the next command in the queue or register. In some instances, more sophisticated sensors can be employed, for instance digital cameras or laser scanners, which cannot only detect a presence or absence of a food item, but can provide information about a shape, consistency, size or other dimensions of a food item. For instance, a digital camera can capture an image of a flatten piece of dough with a deposit of sauce. A processor-based system can employ various machine-vision techniques to characterize the size and shape of the flatten dough and/or to characterize the size and shape of the sauce. As described elsewhere herein, a processor-based device can use such information to determine a pattern or path to guide a robot or portion thereof to spread the sauce as desired across the flatten dough. Similar techniques can be used to image and spread cheese and/or other toppings.

At 1310, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A) updates a status of the food order as the food order is assembled. This can occur, for example, as the food order passes each work station of the one on-demand robotic food preparation assembly lines 102 (Figure 1 A).

At 1312, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A) provides notification of the updated status of the food order to the order front end server computer control system(s) 104. Such can, for example, occur periodically or from time-to-time as the food order is assembled. This can occur, for example, as the food order passes each work station of the one on-demand robotic food preparation assembly lines 102 (Figure 1 A).

At 1314, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A) provides notification of the updated status of the food order to the order dispatch and en route cooking control system(s) 108. Such can, for example, occur periodically or from time-to-time as the food order is assembled. This can occur, for example, as the food order passes each work station of the one on-demand robotic food preparation assembly lines 102 (Figure 1 A).

The method 1300 terminates at 1316, for example until invoked again. Alternatively, the method 1300 may repeat continuously or repeatedly, or may execute as multiple instances of a multi-threaded process. Figure 14 shows a method 1400 of controlling dispatch and/or en route cooking of ordered food items, according to one illustrated implementation. The dispatch and/or en route cooking method 1400 can, for example, be executed by one or more processor-based devices, for instance an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A) and/or on-board processor-based routing module 1074 (Figure 10), and the on-board processor-based cooking module 1076 (Figure 10). The dispatch and/or en route cooking method 1400 can, for example, interact with the method 1 100 (Figure 1 1 ). The dispatch and/or en route cooking method 1400 can, for example, be employed with the method 1200 (Figure 12) and/or the method 1300 (Figure 13).

The method 1400 starts at 1402, for example on powering up of order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), or on invocation by a calling routine.

At 1404, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), receives notification of a new order or an update to the order queue.

At 1406, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), determines a geographical destination to which the new order will be delivered. The order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A) may, for example, determine a longitude and latitude of the delivery destination or some other coordinates, for instance based on street address.

At 1408, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), determines an estimated transit time to the determined delivery destination. The order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 may, for example, determine the estimated transit time based on current or expected conditions, for instance real-time traffic conditions. At 1410, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), determines an approximate dispatch time for the order. The order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A) may, for example, determine the approximate dispatch time based on the estimated assembly time and the determined estimated transit time to the delivery destination. Such may, for example, account for a manifest or itinerary of a delivery vehicle that will deliver the particular order.

At 1412, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), assigns the order to one or more of: a route, a delivery vehicle, a rack, and/or an oven. Various routes may be defined, and reflected in a manifest or itinerary. A delivery vehicle may be assigned to a route or a manifest or itinerary may be assigned to a delivery vehicle. The manifest or itinerary can specify a sequence of delivery destinations and the food items or orders to be delivered at each delivery destination. The manifest or itinerary can specify a route to be followed in completing the sequence of delivery destinations. Various food items or orders can be assigned to respective cooking units, e.g., ovens 197, and/or assigned to a rack 199, which is in turn assigned to a delivery vehicle.

At 1414, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), provides a notification of the assignment to the order assembly control system 106. This allows the order assembly control system 106 to provide instructions or commands to correctly load the food item into the correct cooking unit, rack and/or delivery vehicle.

Alternatively, the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 can provide loading instructions or commands directly, for example providing commands to one or more loading robot(s). Again, instructions can be selected from a library of instructions, of generated if needed.

At 1416, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control system(s) 108 (Figure 1 A), generates and/or transmits a manifest. For example, the order dispatch and en route cooking control system 108 may generate a manifest for a set of food items or orders. The order dispatch and en route cooking control system 108 may transmit the manifest to a delivery vehicle or to a processor-based device {e.g., smartphone, tablet, navigation system, head unit, laptop or netbook computer) operated by a delivery driver assigned to the delivery vehicle. The manifest specifies a sequence or order of delivery destinations for the food items or food orders on the manifest, as well as specifying which food items or food orders are to be delivered at which of the delivery destinations. The manifest may, optionally, include a specification of a route to travel in transiting the various delivery destinations. The manifest may, optionally, include an indication of transit travel times and or delivery times for each of segment or leg of the route. The manifest may, optionally, include identifying information, for example identifying the consumer or customer, the street address, telephone number, geographical coordinates, and/or notes or remarks regarding the delivery destination {e.g., behind main residence, upstairs) and/or customer.

At 1418, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), generates and/or transmits routing instructions or coordinates. The routing instructions can include textual, numerical and/or graphical descriptions of the route or routes to and between delivery destinations. The geographical coordinates may be useable to find routing instructions via a routing application run on a smartphone or tablet computer. Alternatively, the geographical coordinates may be used directly by an autonomous vehicle.

At 1420, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), provides notification to an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A). Such allows the order front end server computer control system 104 to provide accurate up-to-date information about each order. The updated information may be available for access by a consumer or customer, for instance via a Web browser. Additionally or alternatively, updated information may be pushed to the consumer or customer via electronic notification {e.g., electronic mail messages, text or SMS messages).

The method 1400 terminates at 1422, for example until invoked again. Alternatively, the method 1400 may repeat continuously or repeatedly, or may execute as multiple instances of a multi-threaded process.

Figure 15 shows a method 1500 of controlling dispatch and/or en route cooking of ordered food items, according to one illustrated implementation. The dispatch and/or en route cooking method 1500 can, for example, be executed by one or more processor-based devices, for instance an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A) and/or on-board processor-based routing module 1074 (Figure 10), and the on-board processor-based cooking module 1076 (Figure 10). The dispatch and/or en route cooking method 1500 can, for example, be executed as part of execution of the method 1400 (Figure 15). The dispatch and/or en route cooking method 1500 can, for example, interact with the method 1 100 (Figure 1 1 ). The dispatch and/or en route cooking method 1500 can, for example, be employed with the method 1200 (Figure 12) and/or the method 1300 (Figure 13).

The method 1500 starts at 1502, for example on powering up of order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), or on invocation by a calling routine.

At 1504, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), retrieves and/or receives updated transit or traffic conditions. Updated transit or traffic conditions can be received from one or more of various commercially available sources, for instance via electronic inquiries. Updated transit or traffic conditions can be received in real-time or almost real-time. At 1506, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), determines and /or transmits updated manifest.

At 1508, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), determines and /or transmits updated routing instructions. In at least some instances, the routing instructions and manifest or delivery itinerary may be dynamically updated or adjusted during the delivery process to reflect the latest traffic, road conditions, road closures, etc. Such traffic, road condition, and road closure information may be obtained via one or more of: a commercial source of traffic information, crowd- sourced traffic information, or some combination thereof. By dynamically updating traffic information, the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 and/or routing modules 1074 in each of the delivery vehicles 1072 can provide up- to-the-minute routing instructions and delivery itineraries. By dynamically updating traffic information, the order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 and/or cooking modules 1076 in each of the delivery vehicles 1072 can

dynamically adjust the cooking conditions within each of the cooking units carried by each delivery vehicle 1072 to reflect the available cooking time for each of the respective cooking units.

At 1510, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), determines updated time to destination. For example, the order dispatch and en route cooking control system 108 may generate an updated manifest for a set of food items or orders. The order dispatch and en route cooking control system 108 may transmit the updated manifest to a delivery vehicle or to a processor-based device {e.g., smartphone, tablet, navigation system, head unit, laptop or netbook computer) operated by a delivery driver assigned to the delivery vehicle. The updated manifest specifies an updated sequence or order of delivery destinations for the food items or food orders on the updated manifest, as compared to a previous version or instance of the manifest, as well as specifying which food items or food orders are to be delivered at which of the delivery destinations. The updated manifest may, optionally, include a specification of a route to travel in transiting the various delivery destinations. The updated manifest may, optionally, include an indication of transit travel times and or delivery times for each of segment or leg of the route. The updated manifest may, optionally, include identifying information, for example identifying the consumer or customer, the street address, telephone number, geographical coordinates, and/or notes or remarks regarding the delivery destination {e.g., behind main residence, upstairs) and/or customer.

At 1512, a processor-based device, for example an order dispatch and en route cooking control systems 108 (Figure 1 A), provides notification of the updated manifest to the order front end server computer control system. Such allows the order front end server computer control system 104 to provide accurate up-to-date information about each order. The updated information may be available for access by a consumer or customer, for instance via a Web browser. Additionally or alternatively, updated information may be pushed to the consumer or customer via electronic notification {e.g., electronic mail messages, text or SMS messages).

The method 1500 terminates at 1514, for example until invoked again. Alternatively, the method 1500 may repeat continuously or repeatedly, or may execute as multiple instances of a multi-threaded process.

Figure 16 shows a method 1600 of controlling the food-preparation appliances 240 within an on-demand robotic food preparation assembly line 102 to prepare a type of food item, according to one illustrated implementation. The method 1600 can, for example, be executed by one or more processor-based devices, for instance an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), an order front end server computer control system 104 (Figure 1 A), and/or food preparation appliance control system 246 (Figures 2A-2D). The method 1600 may be executed as part of, or may be complementary to, the on-demand robotic food assembly line controlling method 1300 (Figure 13).

At 1602, a processor-based device, for example an order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), generates a workflow for each order in the fulfillment queue. The order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A) can take the highest ranked order in the fulfillment queue, one food order at a time.

Alternatively, order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A) can process multiple orders in parallel, particularly where there is more than one on-demand robotic food preparation assembly lines 102 (Figure 1 A). The workflow specifies a series of operations or acts required to produce the desired or ordered food item, and may optionally include processor-executable instructions that when executed cause one or more food preparation appliances to perform the operations or acts. For example, a workflow may specify, in sequence: application of a particular sauce and/or volume of sauce, application of a particular cheese or cheeses and/or volume of cheese {e.g., double cheese), application of none, one or more toppings and/or volume of toppings {e.g., double sausage), an amount of cook time {e.g., par-bake) or speed through an oven, an amount of charring, application of fresh toppings, number of slices, etc. In some implementations, the workflow may be determined based upon an initial input provided via an operator interface, for instance by a user, such as, for example, an input identifying a desired food item 202 to be prepared.

At 1604, a processor-based device, for example, the order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), determines an arrangement of food preparation appliances along the food preparation assembly line 102. In some

implementations, the arrangement of the food preparation appliances may be determined by the processor-based device automatically with no further input from an operator or user after the user entered the desired food item. In some implementations, such a determination may involve determining an arrangement and locations for one or more self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 along at least a portion of the food preparation assembly line 102 in which food items 202 to be prepared progress from an upstream positon 1 15 of the food preparation assembly line 102 toward a downstream position 1 17 of the food preparation assembly line 102. The food preparation assembly line 102 may be located within a portion of a food preparation floor space 101 .

The processor-based device may determine the arrangement and locations for the one or more self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 based on one or more of a variety of factors. For example, in some implementations, the food preparation assembly line 102 may include one or more fixed or stationary assembly conveyors 122 that convey the food items 202 from the upstream position 1 15 to the downstream position 1 17. The fixed or stationary assembly conveyors 122 are generally fixed in position on the floor space 101 , although has a component {e.g., belt) that moves. In such an implementation, the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 may be arranged along the assembly conveyors 122 in an order that is appropriate to assemble and prepare the requested food item. In some implementations, one or more of the self-propelled food preparation appliances {e.g., 240c) may include an individual conveyor belt 284. As such, the processor-based device may determine an appropriate position for such a self- propelled food preparation appliance 240c along the food preparation assembly line 102. In some implementations, for example, multiple such self-propelled food preparation appliances 240c with individual conveyor belts 284 may be arranged consecutively along the food preparation assembly line 102 such that the individual conveyor belts 284 align to thereby convey the food item 202 toward the

downstream position 1 17. Typically, in determining an appropriate position for such a self-propelled food preparation appliance 240c along the food preparation assembly line 102, the processor-based device will determine a position that ensures that a gap between consecutive conveyor does not exceed a defined threshold gap value. This can be true of gaps between a conveyor that is part of the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 and an adjacent fixed or stationary assembly conveyors 122, as well as gaps between a conveyor that is part of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 and a conveyor that is part of an self-propelled food preparation appliance 240.

In some implementations, the arrangement of the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 may be based upon the availability of various resource input interfaces {e.g., electricity, natural gas, propane) from various connections within and proximate to the food preparation floor space 101 . In some

implementations, for example, one or more of the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 may require electricity for the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 to function along the food preparation assembly line 102. In such an instance, the processor-based device may position the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 proximate a power supply outlet 121 located along the food preparation floor space 101 and/or proximate another self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 that is electrically coupled to a power source and that includes a power supply outlet 261 a. In some instances, multiple self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 may be electrically coupled in a "daisy-chain" formation in which at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 in the daisy chain is electrically coupled to a power source. In some implementations, the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 may be selectively, physically coupled to other connections located within or proximate the food preparation floor space 101 , including, for example, fuel supply connections 1 13, such as may be used, for example, to supply natural gas and/or propane. Locations at which resource input interfaces are available may define or be denominated as work stations or interchangeably work cells, or where there is a physical structure to dock to, may be define or be denominated as docking stations. Locations, work stations, work cells and/or docking stations may, for instance, be fixed locations or areas or volumes on the floor space 101 , and in particular may be a two-dimensional area or a three-dimensional volume, either of which can either be occupied by a fixed or a non-self-propelled food preparation appliance, or more advantageously occupied by a self-propelled food preparation appliance.

In some implementations, the food preparation floor space 101 may include one or more registration features 1 1 1 that the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 use to move about the food preparation floor space 101 . In such an implementation, the processor-based device may determine the arrangement of the food preparation appliances based upon the locations of the various registration features 1 1 1 within the food preparation floor space 101 . For example, in some implementations, the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 may be subject to a margin of error in calculating location information when the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 moves away from a registration feature 1 1 1 . As such, the processor-based device may locate the destination for each of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 within a certain distance from at least one of the registration features 1 1 1 such that the margin of error in the location is kept within a specified threshold. In some implementations, the registration feature 1 1 1 may include optically detectable {e.g., detectable in visible or UV portions of EM spectrum) elements 1 1 1 a, such as may be included along or proximate portions of the food preparation floor space 101 . In some

implementations, the registrations features 1 1 1 may include one or more of physical docks 1 1 1 b, wireless transponders 1 1 1 c, proximity sensors 1 1 1 d, sensors that detect position or contact 1 1 1 e, RFID tags 1 1 1 f, as well as other types of sensors.

At 1606, a processor-based device, for example, the order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), transmits at least one instruction to the self- propelled food preparation appliances 240 that causes the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 to move as a unit across the food preparation floor space 101 to a destination along the food preparation assembly line 102. Such a destination may be based at least in part upon the arrangement of food

preparation appliances determined at 1604. In some implementations, the instructions transmitted at 1606 may include only the destination information for each respective self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 that is to move. In such an implementation, each respectively self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 may autonomously determine a respective route to take to the determined destination. In some implementations, the instructions transmitted at 1606 may include motion plans that specify respective routes for at least some of the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 to take to the respective destinations. In some implementations, such route information may include timing information {e.g., delays, timed checkpoints) to facilitate the movement of multiple self-propelled food preparation appliances across the food preparation floor space 101 . In some implementations, such instructions may be transmitted via the network 120 to one or more of the food preparation appliances. Such food preparation appliances may receive the transmitted instructions via a

communications subsystem 244, which may include a radio and an antenna 272.

At 1608, a processor-based device, for example, the order assembly control systems 106 (Figure 1 A), transmits at least one instruction related to cleaning and/or reloading at least one of the food preparation appliances.

Instructions to clean a food preparation appliance may be based, for example, upon the amount of time that has elapsed or the number food items that have been prepared by the food preparation appliance since the time that the food

preparation appliance was cleaned. In some implementations, such instructions may be transmitted to a self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 that cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 to travel to a cleaning appliance 107. In such a situation, the instructions transmitted at 1608 may include instructions that cause a second self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 to move to take the place of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 that is going to or that has arrived at the cleaning appliance 107. The processor-based device may anticipate the departure of a first self-propelled food preparation appliance 240, and cause a second self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 to travel toward the location of the soon to depart first self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 before the first self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 actually departs to be cleaned, minimizing downtime for the food preparation assembly line. As such, the replacement by the second self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 may enable the operation of the food preparation assembly line 102 to continue. In some implementations, such instructions may be transmitted to a self-propelled cleaning appliance {e.g., fluid-based self-propelled cleaning appliance 107b) that causes the self-propelled cleaning appliance to travel to the food preparation appliance to be cleaned. Such may

disadvantageously increase the downtime of the food preparation assembly line, but advantageously can avoid the need to duplicate self-propelled food preparation appliances 240.

The instructions to reload a food preparation appliance may be based upon receiving a low-ingredient notification one of the food preparation appliances, such as may occur when the ingredient passes below a defined threshold. In some implementations, the low-ingredient notification may be received from a low-ingredient indicator 155h. In some implementations, the instructions to reload a food preparation appliance may be based upon the existing and/or expected orders for a food item to be prepared at the food preparation assembly line 102. Such expected orders may be based, for example, upon a historical number of orders for such food items in related circumstances. In some implementations, such instructions may be transmitted to a self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 that cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 to travel to a stationary replenishment appliance 105a. In such a situation, the instructions transmitted at 1608 may include instructions that cause a second self- propelled food preparation appliance 240 to move to take the place of the self- propelled food preparation appliance 240 that will soon depart or that is traveling to or has already traveled to the replenishment appliance 105. The processor-based device may anticipate the departure of a first self-propelled food preparation appliance 240, and cause a second self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 to travel toward the location of the soon to depart first self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 before the first self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 actually departs for replenishment, minimizing downtime for the food preparation assembly line. As such, the replacement by the second self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 may enable the operation of the food preparation assembly line 102 to continue. In some implementations, such instructions may be transmitted to a self-propelled replenishment appliance 105b that causes the self- propelled replenishment appliance 105 to travel to the food preparation appliance so that the ingredient may be replenished and/or reloaded.

The method 1600 terminates at 1610, for example until invoked again.

Figure 17 shows a method 1700 of moving self-propelled food- preparation appliances 240 across a food preparation floor space 101 , according to one illustrated implementation. The method 1700 can, for example, be executed by one or more processor-based devices, for instance a food preparation appliance control system 246 (Figures 2A-2D). The method 1700 may be executed as part of, or may be complementary to, the on-demand robotic food assembly line controlling method 1300 (Figure 13), and/or food-preparation appliance controlling method 1600.

At 1702, a processor-based device, for example a food preparation appliance control system 246 in a self-propelled food preparation appliance 240, receives one or more instructions, e.g., a motion plan, to move the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 as a unit across a portion of the food preparation floor space 101 to a destination. Such instructions may be received, for example, at the radio and antenna 272 of the communications subsystem 244 via the network 120. In some implementations, the instructions may include only the destination information {e.g., assigned location on assembly line, assigned location on floor space, real world geographic coordinates). In such a situation, the food preparation appliance control system 246 may autonomously determine a route for the self-propelled food preparation system to travel across the food preparation floor space 101 to the destination. In some implementations, the instructions received may include a route for the self-propelled food preparation appliances 240 to take to the destination. In some implementations, such route information may include timing information {e.g., delays, timed checkpoints) to facilitate the movement of multiple self-propelled food preparation appliances across the food preparation floor space 101 . The route and/or route information may be based, at least in part, upon one or more markers {e.g., registration marks) and, or beacons {e.g., wireless transponders, lights) that may be located within or proximate to the food preparation floor space 101 .

At 1704, a processor-based device, for example a food preparation appliance control system 246 in a self-propelled food preparation appliance 240, generates one or more instructions that cause a propulsion subsystem 242 to be drivingly engaged. As such, a motor 262 within the propulsion subsystem 242 on the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 may drivingly engage one or more of a set of wheels 264 and/or a set of treads 266 to move the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 as a unit across the food preparation floor space 101 to the destination.

At 1706, a processor-based device, for example a food preparation appliance control system 246 in a self-propelled food preparation appliance 240, monitors the three-dimensional space surrounding the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 as the self-propelled food preparation appliance travels across the food preparation floor space 101 . Such monitoring may be continuous, substantially continuous, periodic or aperiodic. Such monitoring may be based, for example, upon signals generated by one or more sensors 123 that may be comprised, for example, of a LIDAR system, a stereo vision system, a radar system, a computer vision system, or an imager. The processor-based device may use the signals generated by such sensors 123 to detect objects that may intersect with and/or block the potential route to be taken by the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240, possibly resulting in a collision. The processor-based device may alter the speed, velocity, and/or direction of travel of the self-propelled food preparation appliance 240 to avoid such a collision. As such, the self- propelled food preparation appliance 240 may move about the food preparation floor space autonomously with no further interaction with, and without receiving any further instructions from, a user after receiving the destination information. Such autonomous movement may include autonomous interaction with other self- propelled food preparation appliances 240 to avoid potential collisions.

The method 1700 terminates at 1708, for example until invoked again.

Figure 18 shows a method 1800 of operation for a sauce spreader robot 140, according to one illustrated implementation. The method is executable by hardware circuitry, for example a processor-based control system or PLC. Logic may be hardwired in the circuitry or stored as processor-executable instructions in one or more non-transitory processor-readable media.

The method 1800 starts at 1802. The method 1800 may, for example, start on powering up of the sauce spreader robot 140 or on invocation of the method 1800 from a calling routine.

At 1804, a controller determines whether an object, e.g., round of flatten dough 202 (Figure 2) is detected, for example detected at or proximate the sauce dispenser 130 or elsewhere upstream of the sauce spreader robot 140 in the workflow or assembly line. In response to detection, a controller triggers an image sensor, e.g., digital camera, to capture an image of the object at 1806. In response to detection, the controller may optionally trigger an illumination source at 1808, for example triggering a strobe light to illuminate the object.

At 1810, the processor extracts first and second blob

representations, representing the dough and the sauce, respectively. The processor can employ various machine-vision techniques and packages to extract the blog representations. The processor can determine a centroid of a blob that represents the sauce and/or determine a centroid of a blob that represents the flatten dough on which the sauce is carried.

At 1812, the processor transforms the pixel coordinates of the first and second blobs into "real" world coordinates, that is coordinates of the assembly line and/or coordinates of the sauce spreader robot 140.

At 1814, the processor determines whether sauce is detected. If sauce is not detected, such may be considered a mistake or error, and control passes to an error routine 1816 which skips any attempt as spreading the unintentionally missing sauce. In some instances, omission of sauce may have been intentional, yet there is still no need to attempt to spread the intentionally missing sauce.

At 1818, the processor determines a pattern to spread the sauce, sending resulting coordinates to drive the sauce spreader robot 140. For example, the processor may determine a starting position for the end effector or end of arm tool. The starting position may, for example, correspond or be coincident with the determined centroid of the blob that represents the sauce. Also for example, the processor may determine an ending position for the end effector or end of arm tool. The ending position may, for example, correspond or be coincident, adjacent to, or spaced from an outer edge or periphery of the blob that represents the flatten dough. Also for example, the processor may determine a path that extends from the starting position to the ending position, preferably a spiral or volute path, which extends radially outward as the end effector or end of arm tool moves about the centroid of the blob that represents the sauce.

The processor may calculate a pattern or path that spreads the sauce somewhat evenly, but not perfectly about the flatten dough, to create an "artisanal" look or effect. In fact, it may be desirable if the flatten dough is not perfectly round. In some implementations, the system can employ machine- learning techniques to develop various desired distribution or assembly patterns. For example, machine learning can be employed to develop or formulate sauce spreading patterns or paths for the sauce spreader robot 140. Additionally or alternatively, machine learning can be employed to develop or formulate cheese spreading patterns or paths for the cheese robot 154 and/or toppings robot 156. For example, the system or a machine-learning system can be supplied with images of desired or desirable patterns of sauce on flatten pieces of dough or even of pizzas. Additionally or alternatively, the system can be provided with ratings input that represents subjective evaluation of pizzas made via various patterns or paths. Additionally or alternatively, the machine-learning system can be supplied with a number of rules, for example that a pattern or path should result in an equal or roughly equal distribution of sauce, cheese, or other toppings across a surface of the food item {e.g., whole pizza pie). Additionally or alternatively, the machine- learning system can be supplied with a number of rules, for example each individual portion {e.g., slice) of the food item {e.g., pizza) should have an equal or roughly equal distribution of sauce, cheese, or other toppings as every other portion {e.g., slice) of the food item {e.g., pizza). The images and/or ratings and/or rules can be used as training data for training the machine-learning system during a training period or training time. The system can use the trained examples during operation or runtime to produce patterns and paths based on blob analysis to achieve a desired distribution of sauce, cheese, and/or toppings for any given instance of pizza or other food item. Various patterns or paths can specify movement of an appendage of a robot and/or other portions of the robots, for example rotation or pivoting of a torso, or even translation or rotation of the entire robot where the robot includes wheels or treads.

The method 1800 terminates at 1820, for example until invoked again. In some implementations, the method 1800 repeats as long as the assembly line is in a powered ON state.

Various embodiments of the devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, schematics, and examples have been set forth herein. Insofar as such block diagrams, schematics, and examples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the present subject matter may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently

implemented in standard integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers {e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more controllers {e.g., microcontrollers) as one or more programs running on one or more processors {e.g., microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of ordinary skill in the art in light of this disclosure.

When logic is implemented as software and stored in memory, one skilled in the art will appreciate that logic or information, can be stored on any computer readable medium for use by or in connection with any computer and/or processor related system or method. In the context of this document, a memory is a computer readable medium that is an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other another physical device or means that contains or stores a computer and/or processor program. Logic and/or the information can be embodied in any computer readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions associated with logic and/or information. In the context of this specification, a "computer readable medium" can be any means that can store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program associated with logic and/or information for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, and/or device. The computer readable medium can be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non- exhaustive list) of the computer readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic, compact flash card, secure digital, or the like), a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM, or Flash memory), an optical fiber, and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM). Note that the computer-readable medium, could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program associated with logic and/or information is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via for instance optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then stored in memory.

In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that certain mechanisms of taught herein are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of signal bearing media include, but are not limited to, the following: recordable type media such as floppy disks, hard disk drives, CD ROMs, digital tape, and computer memory; and transmission type media such as digital and analog communication links using TDM or IP based communication links {e.g., packet links).

The various embodiments described above may be combined to provide further embodiments. U.S. Patent 9,292,889, issued March 22, 2016, titled, "SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF PREPARING FOOD PRODUCTS"; U.S. Patent application Serial No. 15/040,866, filed February 10, 2016, titled, "SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF PREPARING FOOD PRODUCTS"; International application No. PCT/US2014/042879, filed June 18, 2014, titled, "SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF PREPARING FOOD PRODUCTS"; U.S. Provisional Patent application Serial No. 62/31 1 ,787, filed March 22, 2016, titled, "CONTAINER FOR TRANSPORT AND STORAGE OF FOOD PRODUCTS"; U.S. Patent application Serial No. 15/465,228, filed March 21 , 2017, titled, "CONTAINER FOR

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CONTAINER COVER"; U.S. Design application Serial No. 29/558,872, filed March 22, 2016, titled, "FOOD CONTAINER BASE"; U.S. Design Patent No. D806,575, filed August 18, 2016, titled, "FOOD CONTAINER"; U.S. Design application Serial No. 29/618,670, filed September 22, 2017, titled, "FOOD CONTAINER"; U.S.

Design application Serial No. 29/574,805, filed August 18, 2016, titled, "FOOD CONTAINER COVER"; U.S. Design application Serial No. 29/574,808, filed

August 18, 2016, titled, "FOOD CONTAINER BASE"; U.S. Design application Serial No. 29/641 ,239, filed March 20, 2018, titled, "DISPLAY SCREEN WITH TRANSITIONAL GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE SET"; U.S. provisional patent application Serial No. 62/569,404, filed October 6, 2017, titled, "SELF- PROPELLED FOOD PREPARATION APPLIANCES AND ON-DEMAND

ROBOTIC FOOD ASSEMBLY WITH SELF-PROPELLED FOOD PREPARATION APPLIANCES", and U.S. provisional patent application Serial No. 62/685,097, filed June 14, 2108, titled, "SELF-PROPELLED FOOD PREPARATION APPLIANCES AND ON-DEMAND ROBOTIC FOOD ASSEMBLY WITH SELF-PROPELLED

FOOD PREPARATION APPLIANCES", are each incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the teachings. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosed embodiments.

Claims

1 . An on-demand food preparation assembly system arranged within a food preparation floor space, the on-demand food preparation assembly system comprising:

a plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances, each of the self- propelled food preparation appliances respectively including a communications subsystem, a propulsion subsystem operable to move the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance about the food preparation floor space, at least one controller communicatively coupled to the communications subsystem and operatively coupled to the propulsion subsystem, and at least one piece of food preparation equipment; and at least one controller, the at least one controller communicatively coupleable to each of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances, the at least one controller which includes at least one processor, and at least one

nontransitory processor-readable storage device communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and which stores processor-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

determine an arrangement of at least three of the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliances along at least a portion of a food preparation assembly line, the food preparation assembly line along which food items to be prepared progress from an upstream position of the food preparation assembly line toward a downstream position of the food preparation assembly line, and

transmit at least one instruction to at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances, the at least one instruction which causes the at least one self-propelled food preparation appliance to move as a unit across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to a destination based at least in part upon the determined arrangement to form at least a portion of the food preparation assembly line along which the food items progress from the upstream position toward the downstream position.

2. The on-demand food preparation assembly system of claim 1 wherein the processor-readable memory further includes processor executable instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

transmit one or more instructions to each of the self-propelled food preparation appliances in the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances, the one or more instructions which cause at least a first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across respective portions of the food preparation floor space to respective destinations based at least in part upon the determined arrangement.

3. The on-demand food preparation assembly system of claim 2 wherein each self-propelled food preparation appliance in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances further includes at least a second controller which comprises at least a second processor and a second nontransitory processor- readable storage device communicatively coupled to the second processor and which stores processor-executable instructions which, when executed by the second processor, cause each of the respective second processors to determine a route to a respective destination for a different one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances.

4. The on-demand food preparation assembly system of claim 3 wherein each self-propelled food preparation appliance in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances moves autonomously with respect to the other self-propelled food preparation appliances in the first set of the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliances.

5. The on-demand food preparation assembly system of any of claims 1 through 4, further comprising:

an assembly line that extends across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space, wherein the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances moves to a position along the assembly line based at least in part on the determined arrangement.

6. The on-demand food preparation assembly system of any of claims 1 through 4 wherein at least one of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances further includes an individual conveyor belt that extends at least between a first side of the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance and a second side of the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance, the second side opposed from the first side across a width of the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance.

7. The on-demand food preparation assembly system of claim 6 wherein the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances are positioned to align the respective individual conveyor belts of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances into an assembly line.

8. The on-demand food preparation assembly system of any of claims 1 through 4 wherein the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliances is based at least in part on a first type of food item to be prepared.

9. The on-demand food preparation assembly system of any of claims 1 through 4 wherein the propulsion subsystem of at least one of the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliances further comprises a motor and at least one of at least one wheel or at least one set of treads, wherein the motor drivingly couples with the at least one wheel or the at least one set of treads, the motor which in operation drives the at least one wheel or the at least one set of treads to move the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance about the food preparation floor space.

10. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of any of claims 1 through 4 wherein the communications subsystem further comprises at least one radio.

1 1 . The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 10 wherein the communications subsystem further comprises at least one antenna, the at least one antenna communicatively coupled with the at least one radio.

12. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of any of claims 1 through 4 wherein the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances is determined based at least in part on input received via an operator interface.

13. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 12 wherein the input from the user comprises initial input from the user, and wherein the

arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliance is determined autonomously without further input received via the operator interface.

14. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of any of claims 1 through 4 wherein at least one of the plurality of self-propelled appliances further includes a power subsystem, the power subsystem which includes a power interface

15. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 14 wherein each of one or more power-supply interfaces are placed in respective locations within the food preparation floor space, the one or more power-supply interfaces which are electrically coupleable with the power interface on the power subsystem.

16. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 15 wherein the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliance is determined based at least in part on the respective locations of the one or more power-supply interfaces.

17. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 15 wherein at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances includes a power interface, and wherein the power interface for at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances electrically couples with the power interface of the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances.

18. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 14 wherein the power interface may include one or more of a power-supply outlet, a plug, and an inductive coupler.

19. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of any of claims 1 through 4 wherein at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances further includes a fuel coupling interface.

20. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 19 wherein the fuel coupling interface includes a coupler that is selectively physically coupleable to a fuel supply to receive at least one of propane and natural gas and provides a fluid path therebetween.

21 . The on-demand food preparation assembly line of any of claims 1 through 4 wherein the food preparation floor space includes one or more registration features placed at respective locations on the food preparation floor space, and wherein the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances is based at least in part on the respective locations of the one or more registration marks.

22. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 21 wherein the registration features include one or more of: a number of visible marks, a number of wireless transponders, a number of RFID transponders, a number of physical docks, and a number of proximity sensors.

23. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of any of claims 1 -4 wherein the destination includes one of a plurality of pre-set positions along the food preparation assembly line.

24. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 23 wherein a number of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances is selectively placeable at respective ones of the plurality of pre-set positions.

25. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of any of claims 1 through 4, further comprising:

a cleaning appliance selectively operable to clean one or more of the self- propelled food preparation appliances.

26. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 25 wherein the at least one nontransitory processor-readable storage device stores processor- executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to further transmit at least one instruction to at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances, the at least one instruction which causes the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the cleaning appliance.

27. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 26 wherein the at least one nontransitory processor-readable storage device stores processor- executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to transmit at least one instruction to at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances that causes the at least one other of the self- propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to replace the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances that has left the on-demand food preparation assembly line for cleaning by the cleaning appliance.

28. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 25 wherein the cleaning appliance includes one of one or more nozzles for a liquid-based cleaning agent and one or more ultraviolet radiation (UV) emitters.

29. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of any of claims 1 through 4, further comprising:

a replenishment appliance selectively operable to reload ingredients dispensed by one or more of the self-propelled food preparation appliances.

30. The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 29 wherein the at least one nontransitory processor-readable storage device stores processor- executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the processor to transmit at least one instruction to the replenishment appliance to receive a low-ingredient notification transmitted by least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances, and to transmit one or more instructions that cause the replenishment appliance to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances in response to the low- ingredient notification.

31 . The on-demand food preparation assembly line of claim 29 wherein the at least one nontransitory processor-readable storage device stores processor- executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to transmit at least one instruction to the at least one of the self- propelled food preparation appliances, the at least one instruction which causes the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the replenishment appliance.

32. The on-demand food preparation assembly system of any of claims 1 through 4, further comprising:

a stationary food preparation appliance, wherein the food preparation assembly line is comprised of the stationary food preparation appliance and the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances.

33. The on-demand food preparation assembly system of any of claims 1 through 4 wherein the food preparation assembly line further includes a conveyor comprised of food grade metal, the conveyor which is separate from the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliances.

34. A method of operating an on-demand food preparation assembly system within a food preparation floor space, the on-demand food preparation assembly system comprising a plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances, the method comprising:

determining by at least one processor an arrangement of at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances along at least a portion of the a food preparation assembly line, the food preparation assembly line along which food items to be prepared progress from an upstream positon of the food preparation assembly line toward a downstream position of the food preparation assembly line; and transmitting via a communications subsystem at least one instruction to at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliance, the at least one instruction which causes the at least one self-propelled food preparation appliance to move as a unit across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to a destination based at least in part upon the determined arrangement to form at least a portion of the food preparation assembly line.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

transmitting via the communications subsystem one or more instructions to each of the self-propelled food preparation appliances in the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances, the one or more instructions which cause at least a first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across respective portions of the food preparation floor space to respective destinations based at least in part upon the determined arrangement.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

determining by a processor located at one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances a route to the respective destination for the one self-propelled food preparation appliances in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

autonomously moving by each self-propelled food preparation appliance in the first set of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances with respect to the other self-propelled food preparation appliances in the first set of the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliances.

38. The method of any of claims 34 through 37, wherein the on- demand food preparation assembly system further comprises an assembly line that extends across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space, and further comprising:

moving by the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to a position along the assembly line based at least in part on the

determined arrangement.

39. The method of any of claims 34 through 37, wherein transmitting via a communications subsystem further includes transmitting at least one instruction to at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliance, the at least one of the self- propelled food preparation appliance which further includes an individual conveyor belt that extends at least between a first side of the respective self-propelled food

preparation appliance and a second side of the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance, the second side opposed from the first side across a width of the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

determining positions for each of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances within the food preparation floor space, the respective positons which align the respective individual conveyor belts of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances into an assembly line.

41 . The method of any of claims 34 through 37 wherein determining an arrangement of at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances includes determining an arrangement of at least three of the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliances based at least in part on a first type of food item to be prepared.

42. The method of any of claims 34 through 37 wherein at least one of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances includes a propulsion subsystem that includes a motor and at least one of at least one wheel or at least one set of treads, the method further comprising:

drivingly engaging the propulsion subsystem, such drivingly engaging comprising drivingly engaging by the motor the at least one wheel or the at least one set of treads to move the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance about the food preparation floor space.

43. The method of any of claims 34 through 37, wherein transmitting further includes transmitting to at least one of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances that includes a communication subsystem, the communications subsystem further comprises at least one radio.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein transmitting further includes transmitting to a communications subsystem that includes at least one antenna, the at least one antenna communicatively coupled with the at least one radio.

45. The method of any of claims 34 through 37, further comprising: receiving a transmission that includes receiving an indication via an operator interface, wherein determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances is based at least in part on the input received via the operator interface.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein the input received via the operator interface comprises an initial input, and wherein determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliance includes autonomously determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliance without further input from the user.

47. The method of any of claims 34 through 37 wherein transmitting further includes transmitting to at least one of the plurality of self-propelled appliances that further includes a power subsystem, the power subsystem which includes a power interface.

48. The method of claim 47 wherein each of one or more power-supply interfaces are placed in respective locations within the food preparation floor space, the one or more power-supply interfaces which are electrically coupleable with the power interfaces on the power subsystem, and wherein determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliance includes determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliance based at least in part on the respective locations of the one or more power-supply interfaces.

49. The method of claim 47 wherein at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances includes a power interface, further comprising:

electrically coupling the power interface for at least one other of the self- propelled food preparation appliances with the power interface of the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances.

50. The method of any of claims 34 through 37, wherein at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances includes a fuel coupler, and further comprising:

selectively physically coupling the fuel coupler to a fuel supply to receive at least one of propane and natural gas.

51 . The method of any of claims 34 through 37 wherein the food preparation floor space includes one or more registration marks placed at respective locations on the food preparation floor space, and wherein determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self-propelled food preparation appliances includes determining the arrangement of the at least three of the plurality of self- propelled food preparation appliance based at least in part on the respective locations of the one or more registration marks.

52. The method of any of claims 34 through 37 wherein the on-demand food preparation assembly system further includes a cleaning appliance for one or more of the self-propelled food preparation appliances, further comprising:

transmitting via the communications subsystem at least one instruction to at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances, the at least one

instruction which causes the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the cleaning appliance.

53. The method of claim 52, further comprising:

transmitting via the communications subsystem at least one instruction to at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances that causes the at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to replace the at least one of the self- propelled food preparation appliances that is to be or that is being cleaned by the cleaning appliance.

54. The method of claim 53 wherein the transmitting at least one instruction to at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances that causes the at least one other of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to replace the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances occurs before or concurrently with the transmitting the at least one instruction to at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances that causes the at least one of the self-propelled food

preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the cleaning appliance.

55. The method of claim 52, further comprising:

at least one of dispensing via one or more nozzles at the cleaning appliance a liquid-based cleaning agent, or emitting via one or more ultraviolet (UV) radiation emitters at the cleaning appliance ultraviolet radiation.

56. The method of any of claims 34 through 37 wherein the on-demand food preparation assembly system further includes a replenishment appliance

selectively operable to reload ingredients dispensed by one or more of the self- propelled food preparation appliances, further comprising:

receiving from at least one of the self-propelled food preparation

appliances a low-ingredient notification.

57. The method of claim 56 further comprising:

transmitting by the communications subsystem at least one instruction that causes the replenishment appliance to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances in response to the low-ingredient notification.

58. The method of claim 56, further comprising:

transmitting by the communications subsystem at least one instruction that causes the at least one of the self-propelled food preparation appliances to move across at least a portion of the food preparation floor space to the replenishment appliance.

59. A self-propelled food preparation appliance for use in a food preparation assembly system arranged within a food preparation floor space, the self- propelled food preparation appliance comprising:

at least one piece of food preparation equipment selectively operable to perform at least one action of at least one item of food during food preparation;

a conveyor that provides a path along which the at least one item of food is conveyed;

a propulsion subsystem selectively operable to move the self-propelled food preparation appliance about a food preparation floor space as a unit;

a communications subsystem; and

at least one controller communicatively coupled to the communications subsystem and operatively coupled to the at least one piece of food preparation equipment to control operation of the at least one piece of food preparation equipment, operatively coupled to the conveyor to control operation of the conveyor, and operatively coupled to the propulsion subsystem to control the propulsion subsystem.

60. The self-propelled food preparation appliance of claim 59 wherein the communications subsystem receives one or more instructions, the one or more instructions which, when executed by the at least one controller, cause the self- propelled food preparation appliance to move across portions of the food preparation floor space to a destination.

61 . The self-propelled food preparation appliance of claim 60 wherein the at least one controller executes instructions to determine a route to the destination.

62. The self-propelled food preparation appliance of claim 61 , further comprising:

a sensor, the sensor which generates a signal indicative of objects in a three-dimensional space surrounding the self-propelled food preparation appliance, the sensor which is communicatively coupled with the at least one controller,

wherein the at least one controller determines the route to the destination based at least in part on the signal received from the sensor.

63. The self-propelled food preparation appliance of claim 62 wherein the at least one controller modifies the determined route to the destination based at least in part on the signal received from the sensor.

64. The self-propelled food preparation appliance of claim 62 wherein the sensor subsystem includes at least one of a Lidar system, a stereo vision system, a radar system, or a computer vision system.

65. The self-propelled food distribution appliance of any of claims 60 through 64 wherein the destination includes a position along an assembly line, the assembly line comprised of a plurality of self-propelled food distribution appliances.

66. The self-propelled food distribution appliance of any of claims 59 through 64 wherein the propulsion subsystem includes a motor and at least one of at least one wheel or at least one set of treads, wherein the motor drivingly couples with the at least one wheel or the at least one set of treads, the motor which in operation drives the at least one wheel or the at least one set of treads to move the respective self-propelled food preparation appliance about the food preparation floor space.

67. The self-propelled food distribution appliance of any of claims 59 through 64 wherein the communications subsystem further comprises at least one radio.

68. The self-propelled food distribution appliance of claim 67 wherein the communications subsystem further comprises at least one antenna, the at least one antenna communicatively coupled with the at least one radio.

69. The self-propelled food distribution appliance of any of claims 59 through 64, further comprising:

a power subsystem, the power subsystem which includes a power receptacle.

70. The self-propelled food distribution appliance of claim 69 wherein the power subsystem further includes a power outlet, the power outlet which is physically selectively coupleable with a power receptacle located on a separate self- propelled food distribution appliance.

71 . The self-propelled food distribution appliance of any of claims 59 through 64, further comprising:

an ingredient reservoir, the ingredient reservoir which is sized and shaped to contain an amount of an ingredient; and

an ingredient sensor located proximate the ingredient reservoir, the ingredient sensor which generates an ingredient sensor signal to indicate an amount of the ingredient in the ingredient reservoir, the ingredient sensor which is communicably coupled with the at least one controller;

wherein the at least one controller generates a low-ingredient notification signal when the ingredient signal is below a defined threshold.

72. The self-propelled food distribution appliance of claim 71 wherein the food preparation assembly system includes a second station and a replenishment appliance, wherein the at least one controller transmits the low-ingredient notification signal via the communications subsystem to the second station, and wherein the second station causes the replenishment appliance to replenish the amount of the ingredient.

73. The self-propelled food distribution appliance of claim 71 , further comprising:

a low-ingredient indicator which is communicatively coupled to the at least one controller, wherein the low-ingredient indicator is operable to generate at least one of a visual signal or an audible signal in response to receiving the low-ingredient notification signal from the at least one controller.

74. The self-propelled food distribution appliance of claim 73 wherein the food preparation assembly system includes a second station and a replenishment appliance, and wherein the second station, upon detecting the at least one of the visual signal or the audible signal generated by the low-ingredient indicator, causes the replenishment appliance to replenish the amount of the ingredient.

75. The self-propelled food distribution appliance of claim 71 wherein the food preparation assembly system includes a second station and a replenishment appliance, wherein the at least one controller transmits the low-ingredient notification signal via the communications subsystem to the second station, and wherein the at least one controller receives in response via the communications subsystem one or more instructions, the one or more instructions which, when executed by the at least one controller, cause the self-propelled food preparation appliance to move across portions of the food preparation floor space to the replenishment appliance.