News

Hollywood deploys fleet of fully autonomous robots

Jun 12, 2019

Move over R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Here come Peaches, John Dory, Honey, Ginger, Olive, Alfredo and Basil – Hollywood Private Hospital’s fleet of seven new fully autonomous robots, the first of their kind to be deployed in Western Australia.

Collectively the robots will travel approximately 350 kilometres a week around the hospital’s 10 hectare campus delivering more than 15,000 meals and transporting other food supplies to make up about 360 pantries.

To put it into context, their weekly mileage will be the equivalent of a trip from Perth to Bunbury and back

Spending their days making deliveries, these high tech robots, are freeing up Hollywood food services staff who are now better able to focus on improving the patient experience.

With a detailed 3D map of the hospital stored in their memory, the robots are monitored 24 hours seven days a week by a control centre in Pennsylvania (USA), where they were first developed.  

Lasers and scanning devices are used to detect obstacles and Wi Fi ensures they maintain an accurate position on their journey.

Hollywood Private Hospital Director of Workforce and Support Services, Jules Allan, said the “TUGs”, as they are technically known, were multi-talented.

“These four foot high TUGs are capable of carrying up to 545 kilograms, which increases efficiency and significantly reduces the amount of manual handling our staff have to do,” Mrs Allan said. “They can 'speak' some 70 phrases, ride in hospital lifts, open doors and they can even react to emergency alarms.”

Mrs Allan said the TUGS were already proving to be popular among patients and visitors, who are spotting the robots moving around independently on the wards and in other public areas.

“People are interested in their names and the way they are decorated. Apparently John Dory is getting the biggest reaction with staff and patients finding it amusing when he is transporting fish!,” Mrs Allan said.

Mrs Allan said a TUG naming competition was held at Hollywood, which resulted in staff calling the robots after food.