Transport robots in hospitals: material, linen, medication

Walking distance is the most expensive nursing service nobody bills for

In every hospital, skilled staff walk routes every day that a machine could drive: linen, material, samples, beds. According to the OECD, Europe is short of around 1.2 million healthcare professionals today – every hour spent on transport is missing somewhere else.

The answers so far have been construction projects: pneumatic tubes, rails, heavy-duty AGVs. If you were not rebuilding, you were not a candidate.

Our answer: an autonomous mobile robot that drives in existing corridors and lifts and can be retrofitted. No shaft, no conversion, no downtime during rollout.

What a transport robot does in a hospital

A transport robot in a hospital is an autonomous mobile robot that moves material, linen, samples and consumables between wards, laboratory, pharmacy and logistics. uLog comes in staged payloads, including under-ride and lifting variants up to 300 kg. Tasks, routes and permissions are managed in uGo+.

• Recurring routes triggered by schedule or event, unaccompanied
• Retrofittable into existing buildings – no structural work
• Shelves and load carriers driven under and lifted instead of repacked
• Floor changes with a connection to the lift control
• Proof of completed tasks, times and handovers in uGo+

What we do not promise

An AMR does not replace a pneumatic tube system for emergency samples measured in seconds. It does not climb stairs and does not cross outdoor paths in winter. And it needs order on its routes at the start – permanently cluttered corridors remain an organisational problem, not a technical one.

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.

Why us

• More than 500 units in daily operation in hospitals and laboratories – not pilot promises, but shift work.
• More than 20,000 robots deployed across all our product lines – 15 years of experience with people who work alongside robots.
• uGo+ as a single interface for tasks, permissions, reporting and fleet management – across multiple sites.
• Manufacturer, not reseller. Development, integration and service come from us.

Frequently asked questions

How does a transport robot differ from an AGV or a pneumatic tube system?

Heavy-duty AGVs and pneumatic tube systems are construction projects with rails, shafts and conversion work. An autonomous mobile robot drives in existing corridors and lifts and is retrofittable – with no intervention in the building structure.

What payload is possible?

The uLog range covers staged payloads, including under-ride and lifting variants up to 300 kg. Which variant fits depends on your load carriers and routes.

Can the robot use lifts?

Yes, with a connection to the lift control. Without it, the robot works on one floor. We assess this before quoting.

Does the robot move safely among people?

Sensor fusion detects obstacles and leads to avoidance or a safe stop. The systems are designed for operation in publicly accessible areas.

What happens in the event of a failure?

Tasks can be rerouted in uGo+ or taken over manually. Service availability and response times are set in the contract.

The next step

A first conversation takes twenty minutes. Afterwards you will know whether deployment pays off in your organisation – and if it does not, we will say so. Reach us through the contact form or your existing contact at United Robotics Group.

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.