On 30 January, US group Cafe X (www.cafexapp.com) opened its first robotic cafe in San Francisco, promising “precision-crafted speciality coffee in seconds, the way the roaster intended.”

A Mitsubishi robot system called Gordon operates two standard professional coffee machines to serve espressos and lattes. The system operates behind a transparent panel, so customers can watch their drink being made without the risk of being injured by the fast-moving robot arm.

A spokesman said: “A lot of work goes into making great coffee. The Cafe X system is designed for humans and robots to collaborate. Smart robotics and machine learning allows our operations team to focus on sourcing and using fresh ingredients, maintaining extremely high standards of hygiene and ensuring a great customer experience.

“Whenever you begin to crave some caffeine, you can order your cup of coffee ahead of time with the Cafe X mobile app and even schedule a pick-up time, if you want.

“Thanks to the robot’s artificial-intelligence software, your pre-orders are taken into consideration alongside walk-in orders to ensure that no one is waiting for too long. With a robot capable of making 100-120 cups of coffee in an hour, you likely won’t be waiting long at all.”

Cafe X’s coffee in San Francisco costs $2-3, compared to an average price of $5 from competing human-staffed coffee shops. The world’s first coffee shop is believed to have opened in Constantinople (now called Istanbul) in 1555.