Gangnam District upgrades school meal cooking robots with automatic oil discharge
In short
Gangnam District in Seoul said it added an automatic frying-oil discharge function and improved control screens to the school meal cooking robots used in its cafeterias, saying the changes raise safety and convenience for kitchen staff. The district has been running the robots in a demonstration project with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and a robotics consortium at three schools since late last year. It said 540 of 563 students (96%) surveyed at three schools in the first half of the year rated the robot-cooked meals as tasty.
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Gangnam District in Seoul said it upgraded the cooking robots used in school cafeterias with an automatic frying-oil discharge function and an improved control screen, saying the work raises safety and ease of use for kitchen staff. The district announced the changes on October 6. Newsis reported in a headline that the district had added the automatic discharge function to the school meal cooking robots. [ 1 , 2 ]
The upgrade follows a demonstration project run by the district, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the Korea Robotics Consortium at three schools — Gaeil Elementary School, Gaewon Middle School and Seoul Robot High School — from September to December last year, with the robots still in operation this year. The district said the latest improvements reflect feedback from the kitchen staff involved in the project. [ 1 ]
According to the district, the robot consists of a collaborative robot arm, a control PC and a pot, and carries out three processes: frying, soup and stew, and stir-frying. It said the robots ease the physical burden of repetitive work and reduce exposure to cooking fumes, the smoke and fine dust generated during cooking. [ 1 ]
The new automatic discharge function releases high-temperature oil once frying is finished, which the district said shortens working time and lowers the risk of burns. Previously, staff had to wait for the oil to cool after frying and then ladle it out by hand, according to the district. [ 1 ]
The district also reported positive student satisfaction with robot-cooked meals, saying 540 of 563 student respondents (96%) at three schools answered that the food was tasty in a survey in the first half of the year. District head Kim Hyun-ki said the district is continuing to improve the robots by reflecting the views of the kitchen staff who use them, adding that it will keep adding functions needed on site to reduce the cooking burden and create a safer meal environment. [ 1 ]
The robots in operation at school cafeterias can also be seen at the Gangnam District booth at Smart Life Week 2026, to be held at COEX from October 6 to 8. The district said five companies — four smart-city demonstration firms and one robotics firm — are taking part in the booth to present AI and robot technologies and examples of their use in real urban settings in Gangnam. [ 1 ]
Why it matters
The upgrade is a small, contained public-sector test of kitchen automation aimed at cutting physical strain, cooking-fume exposure and burn risk for school cafeteria staff. Because it is a district-level pilot presented at a national smart-city exhibition, its results may inform how similar meal-service robots are adopted elsewhere in Seoul and beyond.
Key facts
- Gangnam District said it added an automatic frying-oil discharge function and improved the control screen on school meal cooking robots. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The demonstration project was run by the district, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the Korea Robotics Consortium, starting at three schools between September and December of last year and continuing this year. [ 1 ]
- The robot is made up of a collaborative robot arm, a control PC and a pot, and handles frying, soup and stew, and stir-fried dishes. [ 1 ]
- The district said 540 of 563 student respondents (96%) at three schools answered that the food was tasty in a first-half survey. [ 1 ]
- Previously, after frying finished, staff had to wait for the oil to cool and ladle it out by hand, according to the district. [ 1 ]
- The robots are to be shown at the district’s booth at Smart Life Week 2026 at COEX on October 6–8, alongside five companies including four smart-city demonstration firms and one robotics firm. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether the upgraded automatic oil-discharge function has been deployed at all schools using the robots or only at the demonstration sites. The documents describe the improvement without stating the number of units or schools where it is now in operation.
- The scope of Newsis’s own reporting on the story. Newsis’s article text as provided is about the Supreme Court chief justice and a parliamentary committee, unrelated to its headline, so only its headline supports the cooking-robot item.
- Cost of the upgrade and any plans to extend the robots to more schools. Neither the district announcement nor the Newsis item gives figures or expansion plans.