Intro
The Company
In 2015, the founders of Eatsa (now Brightloom) envisioned creating a fast casual restaurant experience that required no front-of-house staff. Their mission was to develop a platform that would lower front-of-house costs and improve efficiency, thereby enabling delivery of food made to order quickly and at an affordable price point.
The Challenge
But the startup found itself in a precarious situation. Investors were excited by early rendering imagery, showcasing a sleek user experience where customers could pick up their food from robotically controlled boxes. A key highlight of the concept was the clear door for each box that could turn opaque during order fulfillment, then turn transparent at the time of order pickup. The idea was to give users a sense of wonder. I distinctly recall being told, “We want it to look like the food magically appeared in a glass box. That’s what we told our investors, so we have to deliver.”
This was a tall order for sure. At project kickoff, the restaurant launch date was only 6 months out! To add to the pressure, the team had also been in talks to stagger launch of other locations shortly after opening the first. Needless to say, there was no time for major development setbacks.
My Role
As the Project Lead and Lead Engineer, my role was to drive translation of Eatsa’s early vision to a real, physical product.
The Process
The Solution
I conceived and implemented a sheet metal based modular mechanical design for the automated cubbies. The modular design was key for serviceability, cleanability, and cost -- all key considerations when designing for a food service environment. To make the original vision of "glass boxes" a reality, I had the idea to integrate transparent LCD technology and subsequently led sourcing of the hardware with a key supplier.
The Results
The rapid development effort culminated in delivery of 27 cubbies for opening of the first restaurant location in San Francisco’s Financial District. All told, my team developed the electromechanical cubby system in 6 months, moving at warp speed from a whiteboard sketch to full restaurant installation. To this day, the modular mechanical design of the cubbies is mostly unchanged and now licensed by Brightloom to restaurants worldwide.
