Robot kitchen struts its stuff in Shanghai

The world's first automated kitchen made its public debut in May at the Consumer Science Show in Shanghai.

A robot stirs and sautes like a pro in an integrated, top-of-the-line kitchen. The creator, Moley Robotics, aims to produce a mass-market consumer version within two years, supported by an iTunes-style library of recipes that can be downloaded and created by the kitchen.

Tim Anderson, winner of the prestigious BBC Master Chef 2011 competition, developed a dish that would test the system's capabilities - a crab bisque - and was then 3-D recorded in a special studio cooking it. Every motion and nuance was captured, from the way Anderson stirred the liquids to the way he controlled the stove temperature.