What they are used for
| Use | What the robot does | Features that matter |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant serving | Runs food from the kitchen pass to tables and brings back dirty dishes | Open tray shelves, tray sensors, table mapping |
| Hotel delivery | Takes towels, amenities and takeout to guest rooms | Lockable compartment, elevator integration, guest phone notification |
| Hospital and lab delivery | Moves specimens, medication and supplies between departments | Locked drawers, access logs, elevator and door integration |
| Office and campus | Mail, packages and supplies between floors or buildings | Secure compartment, recipient PIN |
This guide covers robots that work indoors. Sidewalk and road delivery robots are regulated by state and city rules that vary widely, and are usually run by a delivery service rather than bought by a business. Browse indoor models in the service robot directory.
Does the math work for you
Start by timing the trips. How many runs per shift, how far, and who makes them now? In a large restaurant with a long walk from kitchen to patio, a robot that runs food and bus tubs lets servers stay with their tables. In a small cafe with a ten-step walk, it adds little. In a hotel, the question is how many amenity requests arrive overnight, when the front desk is thin.
A serving robot does not take orders, set plates in front of guests or deal with complaints. A person still loads it, and usually a person still unloads it at the table. The value is in the walking it removes and in freeing staff for work that earns tips and repeat visits.
The specifications that matter
- Payload and trays. Total weight, weight per tray, and tray spacing for tall glasses and stacked plates.
- Minimum passable width. The narrowest aisle it can get through. Busy dining rooms with chairs pushed out are narrower than the floor plan.
- Navigation. Lidar, cameras, or ceiling markers. Ask how it copes with crowds, children, dim lighting, glass and changes in layout.
- Stability. How smoothly it brakes and turns with soup and full glasses aboard.
- Runtime and charging. Can it cover a full service, or does it need a mid-shift charge?
- Elevators and doors. Multi-floor delivery needs an elevator integration kit and often automatic doors. This is usually the most expensive and slowest part of a hotel or hospital install.
- Security. Locked compartments, PIN or badge release, and a delivery log for anything valuable or regulated.
- Integration. Links to the POS, the hotel property management system, or the nurse call and pharmacy systems, if you need them.
Floors, doors and accessible routes
Robots need a good Wi-Fi signal along their whole route for maps, updates and alerts. Thresholds, ramps and rugs can stop small robots. Charging docks must not block exits, fire doors or accessible routes. Under the ADA accessible routes must keep their required clear width, so plan where the robot parks and charges as carefully as where it drives. Check with your architect or ADA consultant if you are unsure.
Staff and guests
Staff acceptance decides whether a serving robot gets used. Involve servers and runners in the trial, show them how to send it and stop it, and be clear about how tips and roles are affected. Guests mostly accept the robots quickly, but plan for children who want to play with them and for guests with mobility aids or low vision who need the robot to yield and announce itself.
Costs people miss
- Elevator and automatic door integration, often billed by the elevator contractor.
- Wi-Fi improvements along the route.
- Mapping and staff training, repeated when the layout changes.
- Tray and battery replacements.
- Insurance: tell your liability carrier a robot is working among guests.
Most of these robots are offered on a monthly subscription. Read robots as a service for the contract terms to check, and robot safety for the standards to ask about. Other robots that share the same floor include cleaning robots.
Before you buy
- Time the current trips: how many, how far, and who makes them.
- Measure the narrowest aisle at peak, not on the floor plan.
- Run a trial during a real busy service.
- Get a written quote for elevator and door integration if you need more than one floor.
- Check Wi-Fi coverage along the whole route.
- Place docks away from exits and accessible routes.
- Ask which safety standard the robot was evaluated to.
- Read the subscription terms: minimum term, uptime, renewal and exit.