Toggle light / dark theme

Staff at the Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) brewery in Leuven, Belgium took Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot on a test run in 2022 to see how many mechanical issues or air leaks it could find in the sprawling facility. Less than two hours later, they were ready to offer the robot a full-time job.

In the year since, Spot has become a key part of AB InBev’s “Brewery of the Future” program, which invests in emerging technology to support the company’s ambition of achieving net-zero operations at the Leuven facility by 2028. Spot conducts 1,800 individual inspections each week across ten packaging lines that churn out over 50,000 containers of Stella Artois, Budweiser, and Corona beer every hour. In its first six months of deployment, Spot discovered nearly 150 anomalies and slashed average repair times from a few months to a mere 13 days.

“Our machinery experiences a lot of wear over time, so predictive maintenance is a top priority,” said David Gregory, strategic projects acceleration manager at AB InBev. “Spot is seeing more than double the anomalies we were expecting, but we’re also now able to make repairs and see performance increases and energy reduction within the brewery.”

Leyu Li is a speculative food designer and strategist based in London. In her work she explores the intersections of design, sociology, and gastronomy. She uses food as a medium to prompt discussions about broader issues, challenge perceptions, and stimulate public dialogue on the future of food. Leyu Li graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London BA Design in 2022 with a First Class Honours Degree.

During Dutch Design Week 2023, Leyu exhibited her project Broccopork, Mushchicken and Peaf at our headquarters, the Next Nature Evoluon in Eindhoven. In an effort to explore the public opinion towards cultured meat, she turned to TikTok. With her fictional influencer “Meaty Auntie”, she sparked online debate through short clips showcasing futuristic meat plants. Her videos already gained more than 3 million views so far.