Scientists bake robotic cake you can completely eat with its toppings and rechargeable batteries

Science and tech can combine to make miracles and this robotic cake with moving components and edible batteries is a testament to that. The wedding cake, baked in the science lab, is engineered to be eaten with all its moving and powering parts, which is easily the biggest dessert innovation after the cake itself. Neatly called the RoboCake, this is a result of a collaboration between researchers from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland and the Institute of Technology (IIT) in Italy.

To ensure the innovation is both appetizing and safe to eat, these engineering teams teamed up with pastry chefs and food scientists from the prestigious École Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL). Created as part of a European Union-funded RoboFood research project, the RoboCake is an edible wedding cake that features dancing robot bears and chocolate-engulfed rechargeable batteries you can eat after they have powered the LED candles mounted on the cake.

Designer:  EPFL

A fusion of robotics, gastronomy, and sustainable technology, the completely edible and fully biodegradable dessert is a project exploring edible robots for real-world usage. The multi-tiered cake presents an idea to eliminate electronic waste with consumable sensors and electric components. “Robotics and food are two separate worlds. However, merging them offers many advantages, particularly in terms of limiting electronic waste and food waste,” informs Dario Floreano, a coordinator of the RoboFood project.

Imagine single-use robots of the future that can serve you and end up in your stomach at the end of their lives. Before you get there, let’s just skim through the RoboCake and its nuances. A cake topped with dancing gummy bears, made from gelatin, syrup, and food color, you can munch on, is, of course, not an ordinary dessert. The teddy bears move their heads and arms when air is injected into them through designed pathways, making them appear as if dancing on top of the cake.

The Robotic cake has LED candles powered by rechargeable batteries stuffed in the cake. The batteries are made from chocolate, vitamin B2, quercetin, and activated charcoal, making them completely edible along with the electrodes inside. “The first flavor you get when you eat them (batteries) is dark chocolate, followed by a surprising tangy kick, due to the edible electrolyte inside, which lasts a few seconds,” Valerio Galli, a PhD student at IIT, notes.  While the idea of robots that can be eaten or food seems weird and unbelievable, the RoboCake is a real thing, presented as an illustration of advances in robotic food research. The cake was showcased recently at the Swiss pavilion during the World Expo in Osaka, Japan. Wondering if you can order this robotic cake for your wedding?

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