A hotpot restaurant in China's northern Shandong province has unveiled its new staff - a team of robots. Automated waiters and female robot dancers move between tables, offering trays of food and drinks.

 

The Dalu Robot Restaurant in Jinan City has over a dozen robots serving curious customers.

The project was set up by the Shandong Dalu Science and Technology Company, which designed and built the mechanical waiters from scratch.

Each one costs around 6,000 US dollars to build, and has motion sensors designed to stop when objects or people are in its way.

Their robotic serving powers are limited - they cannot physically serve customers or refill their cups. But most patrons find them amusing.

Li Xiaomei, customer of Dalu Robert Restaurant, said, "They have a better service attitude than real people. Humans can be impatient. These don't get tired, they just keep working and moving round and round."

However, the robotic wizardry takes a backseat when it comes to actual food preparation.

The kitchen is staffed by human chefs, who prepare hundreds of dishes for hungry hotpot customers.

Wang Changyi, head chef of Dalu Robert Restaurant, said, "As chefs, we need experience and a human touch. These robots are man made - they can't replace us."

As if the robot waiters weren't enough to dazzle guests, the restaurant also has robot receptionists and dancers, to greet customers.

The restaurant and its parent company hope eventually to design and market more complex robots for service, industrial and farming sectors. But in a country where human labor is by far the biggest and cheapest resource, this will prove to be an interesting concept.