Bot Chef — Home Kitchen Robot Samsung Think Tank Team | 2017–2020
[link] Samsung’s profile on me for my robotics work
[link] https://news.samsung.com/global/tag/samsung-bot-chef
Bot Chef is a collaborative robotic sous chef I led from early motion concepts through international debut. I spearheaded the project as the first individual contributor and grew into the project manager, guiding a team to prove that Samsung could build an advanced, consumer-viable robot arm — something the company's leadership believed was out of reach on any reasonable timeline.
I worked across nearly every layer of the project: CAD modeling the arm's structural and mechanical systems, rigging and programming its inverse kinematics (how the robot calculates joint angles to reach a point in space — think of it like a puppet figuring out how to bend its elbow and wrist to touch a specific spot), developing motion plans, designing live demos, integrating perception systems, and contributing to electronics work. I also presented the project directly to Samsung executives to secure continued investment.
The core design breakthrough was treating the robot's motors and gearboxes as load-bearing structure — similar to how an F1 car's engine doubles as part of the chassis. This eliminated the need for a heavy external frame, making the arm slim, silent, and cost-effective enough for a consumer product. The form was deliberately human-like, with no protruding joints and sensors hidden throughout the body, including contact sensing across the entire surface so the robot stops the moment it touches a person.
Bot Chef premiered at IFA 2019 in Berlin and CES 2020 in Las Vegas, generating enough momentum to instigate the creation of Samsung's dedicated Robotics Business Unit. The project's design language and technical direction shaped Samsung's subsequent generations of consumer robots.