Service robots in hospitals: logistics, cleaning, reception

Capacity is not the problem — staffing is.

German hospitals have beds, equipment and rooms. What they lack is people. According to the OECD, Europe is already short of around 1.2 million healthcare professionals, and by 2030 the gap could widen to more than four million health and care workers across the EU. No construction project and no additional beds solve that.

At the same time a substantial share of every shift goes on tasks nobody was trained for: fetching linen, delivering material, documenting floor cleaning, explaining the way to radiology for the twentieth time. Those minutes appear in no statistic – but they add up to positions nobody can currently fill.

Our answer: robotics exactly where time is lost, and nowhere else. We do not build one island per task, but a fleet operated through a single interface.

What service robots do in hospitals

Service robots in hospitals are mobile systems that take over transport, cleaning and service tasks in buildings designed for people. They need no rails, no pneumatic tube system and no conversion work. At United Robotics Group that means the transport robot uLog, the cleaning robot uClean, the service robot uServe and the humanoid robot uMe – orchestrated through uGo+.

• Material, linen, samples: uLog drives recurring routes independently and relieves the portering service.
• Floor cleaning with proof: uClean cleans reproducibly and logs what was cleaned when.
• Reception and orientation: uMe greets, informs and guides – multilingual, without waiting time, identical on every shift.
• Service on the ward: uServe delivers drinks, meals and small consumables.
• One interface: tasks, permissions, reporting and fleet management come together in uGo+.

Your robot. Your data.

A robot that works inside your building sees and hears things that are nobody’s business outside it. That is why AI processing runs on the device, not in someone else’s cloud. No permanent internet connection is required for operation, which makes closed hospital, care-home and laboratory networks possible. What is generated in your building stays in your building: you decide what is stored, analysed or deleted. Through uGo+ you define who may start which tasks, and mission reports are auditable – the basis for a data protection impact assessment, your works council and any inspection.

Buy or rent: Robot-as-a-Service

You can buy, or rent under Robot-as-a-Service. With rental you pay a recurring monthly fee that covers hardware, software maintenance and service together – from the operating budget rather than the capital budget. That is the usual route for a pilot and for a staged rollout across several sites.

An honest note: renting is not automatically cheaper than buying – it shifts risk and timing. What works for your organisation depends on term, quantity, available funding and budget structure. We work through that openly in a first conversation instead of selling you a model. We do not publish prices, because configuration and integration scope decide the number – a figure without that context would be misleading.

Frequently asked questions

Which service robots exist for hospitals?

uLog for material transport, uClean for floor cleaning, uServe for service and information, and the humanoid robot uMe for interaction and guidance. All are operated through the uGo+ platform.

Are structural alterations necessary?

Usually not. The systems drive in corridors and lifts built for people. For changing floors, a connection to the lift control is sensible; we assess that per project.

How quickly is a robot operational?

A site survey is followed by installation and training. The exact period depends on the building and integration scope and is fixed in the quotation.

Do service robots replace staff?

No. They take over routes, repetition and routine. Care, diagnosis and decisions stay with people.

Can service robots be rented?

Yes, under Robot-as-a-Service with a monthly fee including software maintenance and service.

Sources: OECD, Health at a Glance: Europe 2024 · German Federal Statistical Office, nursing workforce projection, press release of 23 January 2024 · German Economic Institute (IW), STEM Spring Report 2026.