Machine Scrapes Oreos Clean of Cream

Food & Beverage Robotics
Machine Scrapes Oreos Clean of Cream
YouTube player

Portland-based artist and physicist David Neevel loves Oreos, but can’t stand the creamy filling. Logically, he built a robot that auto-magically decimates the part of the cookie he doesn’t like.

His OSM (Oreo Separator Machine) was conceived and shown at Portland’s Mad Dog Garage, and the process goes something like this: The Oreo is placed on a tray, flipped vertically and cleaved in half by a motorized, ridiculously over-engineered hatchet. Aluminum arms then receive the halves and transfer them to a Dremel-based CNC machine, which obliterates the cream and presents it to the user for consumption.

David made a lot of sacrifices in making this, such as “try[ing] to find a good sandwich in this part of the city and stuff.” Regarding his robot, David also adds, “I don’t have a catchphrase, but if I had one, it’d be something like ‘Let’s get that cream out of there.'”

42 thoughts on “Machine Scrapes Oreos Clean of Cream

  1. Tom says:

    Ack! Send the creamy part over here… that is the only part the makes an oreo worthy.

  2. GramGram says:

    “decimates part of the cookie”
    So, you’re saying that the machine scrapes 10% of the filling off?

    Invest in a dictionary or bookmark M-W.com, Michael.

    1. Michael Colombo says:

      There’s more than one definition to that word, sir. I used the one that obviously does not mean to remove 10%. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/decimate?s=t

      1. miroslava von schlockbaum says:

        I’d humbly allow that the original definition is notably the most impressive: Roman army lines up everyone and one in ten is killed (typically for cowardice (or laughing at “biggus dickius”)) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation_%28Roman_army%29

    2. shawn says:

      SOMEBODY watches monk it seems.

  3. ka1axy says:

    It’s folks like this who make the world a better place to live!
    I’m with Tom though, the cream is the best part.
    I’m from the twist (to separate) and teeth (to scrape the cream off) school of Oreo eating.

    1. Gillian BenAry says:

      +1 to that, my friend.

  4. Jason Anderson (@JasEriAnd) says:

    Watching this I had to make sure somehow that the month of March hadn’t slipped past me.

    Think about it.

  5. Jake Spurlock says:

    You’re all wrong. The best way to eat an Oreo is after soaking it in milk. Cookie, creme and all.

    1. Leif says:

      Agreed!

  6. andytanguay says:

    This is explains a lot of Portlandia.

    It’s marvelously frivolous!

  7. kingbuff says:

    Sadly, like so many seemingly great things, this is viral marketing. A little googling shows that Mr. Neevel works at Wieden + Kennedy in Portland. One of their clients is Oreo.

    Still an awesome contraption and funny video, just a little less enjoyable I think.

    1. Michael Colombo says:

      Of course it’s viral marketing – it’s on Oreo’s Youtube page. Interesting that you connected the dots between David, the ad agency, and Oreo, but if you browse his homepage I think you’d find he’s a bona-fide maker who was in the right place at the right time.

      1. garypaulrobbins (@garypaulrobbins) says:

        No, he definitely works for WK and he definitely got paid to be in this incognito advertisement and he definitely has sold his soul to satan.

      2. kingbuff says:

        “Of course it’s viral marketing – it’s on Oreo’s Youtube page.”

        Then why was it presented as a video about an artist and physicist and not as an advertisement? In the first two sentences of your post you have passed on as fact that the subject of the videos is 1) an artist, 2) a physicist, 3) loves Oreos, and 5) built the machine in the video. In the context of an ad, all these details are understood to be potential fiction. But this was not presented as an ad and so the casual viewer has no reason to question the details of the video.

        It seems to me that the winner is Oreo who just got a free 4 minute ad placed on the Make (and subsequently BoingBoing) site garnering thousands of views.

    2. andytanguay says:

      Oh no! I’ve been duped. Damn.

      Ah well, I was entertained.

  8. jwbltnJosh says:

    I liked the video and thought it was an interesting “viral” ad, but thought maybe just buy three boxes of Nabisco Chocolate Wafers instead.

  9. Tim says:

    Cremeless Oreo > girlfriend + dog…….sigh
    I cant decide if humanity had just “devolved”
    Enh…he learned something about robots and we all learned something about priorities. A good day in the end :-D

  10. Jay says:

    Oreo Thin crips are available in supermarkets, without the need to scrape sugar paste. ;)

  11. Jaden Gani says:

    I hate the cream. Wonderful machine but it takes longer than to just scrape off the filling with the cracker part.

  12. Shawn says:

    A kid’ll eat the middle of an oreo first, then throw the chocolate cookie outside away!

    Well, that’s the way I always sang the ditty. Evidently David is the ying to my yang….

Comments are closed.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
Tagged

In addition to being an online editor for MAKE Magazine, Michael Colombo works in fabrication, electronics, sound design, music production and performance (Yes. All that.) In the past he has also been a childrens' educator and entertainer, and holds a Masters degree from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program.

View more articles by Michael Colombo

ADVERTISEMENT

Maker Faire Bay Area 2023 - Mare Island, CA

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 15th iteration!

Buy Tickets today! SAVE 15% and lock-in your preferred date(s).

FEEDBACK