Multi-robotic arm cooking system

A method of handling food products to be cooked by a cooking system, the method comprising:

• heating a grilling surface included with at least one grill to a cooking temperature, the grilling surface comprises an upper platen assembly installed with an upper grilling plate and a lower platen assembly installed with a lower grilling plate, the upper platen assembly being pivotable with respect to the lower grilling plate;
• moving a thermally conductive conveyor belt over the lower grilling plate and below the upper grilling plate wherein the upper platen assembly and the lower platen assembly each move between a cooking position and a non-cooking position;
• moving the lower platen assembly to a non-cooking position;
• moving the lower platen assembly to a cooking position, wherein when in the cooking position the lower grilling plate platen assembly is in close proximity to but not in contact with the conveyor belt to allow the lower grilling plate to transfer heat to the prepared product disposed upon the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer through the conveyor belt, wherein when the lower platen assembly is in the non-cooking position the lower platen assembly is spaced away from the conveyor belt such that heat is not transferred to the conveyor belt by conduction heat transfer;
• outputting a first position signal, via an electronic hardware controller, to move a first arm assembly along a track and to transfer a prepared product to the conveyor belt;
• outputting a first utensil position signal, via the controller, that moves a first utensil installed on the first arm assembly to transfer the prepared product from a preparation station to the conveyor belt;
• loading, via the first arm assembly, the prepared product to the conveyor belt;
• transferring the upper platen assembly and the lower platen assembly to the cooking position for a period of time to allow a grilling process upon the prepared product disposed upon the conveyor belt to be completed;
• transferring the upper platen assembly and the lower platen assembly to the non-cooking position;
• outputting a second position signal, via the controller, to move a second arm assembly along the track with respect to the first arm assembly to transfer a cooked product from the conveyor belt
• outputting a second utensil position signal, via the controller, that moves a second utensil installed on the second arm assembly to transfer the cooked product from the grilling surface to a staging system
• further comprising moving the first and second utensils in a vertical direction with respect to the lower grilling plate and a lengthwise direction that is parallel with respect to a grill length so as to transfer the prepared product to the grilling surface and to remove the cooked product from the grilling surface;
• and
• removing, via the second arm assembly, the cooked product from the conveyor belt.