

A girl takes dishes delivered by the robot waiter in Haikou, capital of South China's Hainan province, Aug 3, 2015. A robot waiter was introduced to a restaurant in Haikou. [Photo/Xinhua]
Out of three Guangzhou restaurants that used robots to serve customers, two have closed and the third has fired its robot waiters, the Workers' Daily has reported.
Customers flocked to the Heweilai Restaurant chain in the southern Chinese city when it introduced robots last year, but the chain has stopped using the machines for a number of reasons.
A staff member said the robots couldn't effectively handle soup dishes, often malfunctioned, and had to follow a fixed route that sometimes resulted in clashes.
A customer also said the robots were unable to do tasks such as topping up water or placing a dish on the table.
Another restaurant in Guangzhou's Baiyun District said robots were used only because of a high turnover of waiters and waitresses.
However, the report said robots were mainly used to attract attention and don't help reduce human resource costs.
Zhang Yun, a vice president at the Guangdong University of Technology, said robots will be widely used within the manufacturing industry in the future, as many tasks are repetitive, but further development is needed before robots are able to work effectively in the service sector.
Train rides through blossoms
HD pictures of battleships of PLA Navy
East Sea Fleet conducts combat drills
Sophie Marceau goes square dancing in Guangzhou
Police officers learn Wing Chun in E. China
Charming models compete in super model contest in Beijing
Thai most beautiful transgender Nong Poy release new photos
Now and then photos of Shanghai Jiaotong University
Is this what air travel will look like in 2050?
Top 20 hottest women in the world in 2014
Top 10 hardest languages to learn
10 Chinese female stars with most beautiful faces
China’s Top 10 Unique Bridges, Highways and Roads
Subway suicide
Costs hide in cheap tours
Plastic surgery craze epitomizes modern China
Web users commemorate pilot killed in China-US fighter crash as tensions run highDay|Week