As hospitals evolve into highly digitized, patient-centered ecosystems, logistics automation is emerging as a core infrastructure component—especially in newly built hospitals. Traditional manual logistics systems often suffer from inconsistent delivery times, inefficient routing, overburdened elevators, and increased infection risks due to human interaction. In contrast, autonomous medical logistics robots offer a smart, precise, and contactless alternative. This article explores how to comprehensively plan and implement an autonomous robot-based logistics system in a new hospital from the ground up.

1. Why Autonomous Logistics Robots in Hospitals?

Modern hospitals, especially large-scale tertiary institutions, face growing challenges in material handling. The traditional manpower-driven model involves unpredictability in delivery times and routes, potential physical damage to infrastructure, and rising labor costs.

Autonomous hospital logistics robots are designed to:

• Navigate independently and avoid obstacles,
• Carry various payloads (e.g., medication, linens, waste),
• Integrate seamlessly with hospital information systems (HIS),
• Provide secure, consistent, and accurate delivery.

By automating routine transportation tasks, hospitals can optimize labor, improve workflow efficiency, and significantly reduce infection risks.

2. Types of Hospital Logistics Needs

Hospital logistics requirements can be divided into two categories:

• Storage-Based Logistics: Located in operating rooms, sterile supply rooms, pharmacies, IV mixing centers, and supply warehouses.
• Transport-Based Logistics: Includes routine delivery of meals, clean and dirty linens, waste, large-volume medication, and urgent items like lab specimens, single-dose medication, pathology samples, and blood bags.

Autonomous robots can handle both scheduled and on-demand transport tasks efficiently, with minimal disruption to clinical workflows.

3. Key Scenarios for Robot Deployment

To successfully implement a self-guided hospital logistics robot system, understanding the specific transport requirements is crucial. Examples include:

• IV Bag Delivery: Robots can carry IV bags (250ml each) for 1–2 nursing units per trip, with average deliveries occurring twice daily.
• Meal Distribution: Robots can deliver breakfast, lunch, and dinner in thermally insulated carts. Each meal weighs ~800ml.
• Linen Transport: Clean and soiled linens (~2.5–3.5kg/set) are transported daily based on 50% of total bed occupancy.
• Waste Disposal: Robots handle ~1kg of waste per bed and per staff member, including outpatient waste (0.35kg/person/day).
• Surgical Kit Handling: Transport of clean and used surgical packs (avg. 5kg per pack), depending on surgical schedules.

4. Architectural and Technical Requirements

To accommodate robot logistics in hospital design, several infrastructure elements must be integrated during the planning stage:

• Doors & Passageways: Install automated electric door openers linked to the robot control system. Hallways must be at least 1m wide for single-lane traffic, and 1.8–2m for two-way traffic.
• Slopes: Avoid slopes exceeding 5°, and use slip-resistant flooring to prevent accidents during full-load transport.
• Elevators: Must support robot control signals (call, open, close) and have at least 1.2m-wide doors and adequate weight capacity.
• Flooring & Gaps: Tile gaps should not exceed 30mm; height differences must be ≤15mm to ensure smooth navigation.
• Charging Stations: Install at least one 220V/2kW five-hole socket at robot parking and charging points.
• Wi-Fi Connectivity: Provide seamless wireless coverage (802.11a/b/g/n) along all robot routes with consistent SSID.
• Network Reliability: Ensure robot control systems are powered via UPS with stable, low-latency, high-bandwidth connectivity.
• Dedicated Routes: Where possible, design exclusive corridors for robots, with a minimum clearance height of 1.6m.

5. Workflow of Autonomous Hospital Logistics Robots

A typical robot logistics process includes:

1. Task Dispatch: Station administrator requests robot delivery via the control platform.
2. Pickup: Robot arrives, signals via voice for staff to load materials.
3. Transport: Robot carries payload to the target department, such as a nurse station or supply room.
4. Delivery: Robot announces arrival, unloads autonomously or waits for staff to retrieve items.
5. Next Task or Charging: Robot either proceeds to the next task or docks at the nearest charging station.

6. Smart Path Planning Considerations

Efficient path planning directly affects robot performance and patient safety:

• Global vs. Local Planning: Use global path planning for fixed routes and local planning for real-time obstacle avoidance.
• Avoid High-Traffic Zones: Bypass peak-time elevator halls, patient corridors, outpatient lobbies, and high-risk infection zones.
• Underground Logistics Priority: Food, linen, and waste transport should prioritize horizontal movement in basement levels, using medical elevators for vertical transport.
• Custom Logistics Routes: Utilize sky corridors and bridges for mid-level pharmacies or IV mixing centers to ensure direct access across buildings.

Conclusion

Designing a robot-based logistics system for a new hospital requires early integration into architectural planning, robust IT infrastructure, and alignment with operational workflows. Autonomous logistics robots not only enhance delivery precision and staff productivity but also contribute significantly to infection control, safety, and overall patient satisfaction.

Forward-thinking hospitals that incorporate intelligent logistics systems from the ground up will be better equipped to meet the demands of modern healthcare.