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Individual items such as medications, sterile supplies, documents, laboratory samples and instruments must be transported within the hospital. Manual transport often ties up scarce personnel for such routine steps and makes them unavailable for important tasks during the time of transport. A remedy for this problem is offered by automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots for ward logistics.
Automated supplier of materials
The SALLY courier can be requested for the desired station simply by pressing a button. The filling and removal of the individual compartments as well as the destination entry can only take place after prior authentication. In order to reach its destination particularly quickly, the SALLY courier can also decide quite autonomously with the help of our ARCOS vehicle software whether it can avoid obstacles or has to stop in front of them. The safety of staff and patients is paramount.
Benefits that move
Quality assurance through traceability of transports.
Only authorized personnel can open the compartments
Easy integration into everyday station life thanks to intuitive user interface
Multiple delivery orders in one trip, even with spontaneous changes
Customizable cabinet is easy to clean and disinfect
Easy integration of third-party AGVs through VDA 5050
Hospitals are increasingly facing a shortage of staff. Automated solutions for routine tasks can counteract this and relieve staff.
Interesting Facts About Ward logistics
Ward logistics covers the transport of individual items within a hospital up to the ward itself – medication, sterile supplies, documents, laboratory samples and instruments. It begins where container transport ends: the container brings the bulk to a distribution point, ward logistics brings the single item to the recipient. This final leg is what logistics calls the last mile.
The SALLY courier is called to a ward at the press of a button and drives the route on its own. Filling, removal and destination entry are only possible after authentication. On the way, the vehicle uses 3D cameras and the ARCOS vehicle software to decide for itself whether to drive around an obstacle or stop in front of it. Several delivery orders can be combined in one trip.
Sterile supplies, documents, laboratory samples, instruments, medication and other individual items. The SALLY courier carries up to 50 kg at up to 1.0 m/s. The SALLY base vehicle without the courier module carries up to 100 kg at up to 1.6 m/s and can take other modules for small load carriers. The cabinet module is configured to the customer's requirements.
By authentication at the vehicle. The compartments of the SALLY courier only open after prior authentication – for filling, for removal and for entering the destination, so only authorised staff reach the contents. Every transport is documented, which provides the traceability required for medication and sterile supplies.
The SALLY courier travels at a maximum of 1.0 m/s, roughly 3.6 km/h. That is deliberately slower than the 1.6 m/s of the SALLY base vehicle, because the courier operates mainly in areas where patients, visitors and staff are moving. It navigates autonomously by contour-based laser navigation, using the building's existing structural contours.
An AGV follows a route assigned by the fleet manager, while an AMR decides parts of its route itself. DS Automotion combines both: the SALLY courier drives a planned course, but within defined sections it decides autonomously whether to avoid an obstacle or stop, using 3D cameras and ARCOS. The result is a predictable route with the reactivity a busy ward needs.
It removes fetch-and-carry duties from the staff. Manual transport ties up scarce personnel for routine steps during which they are unavailable for patient care. A courier vehicle takes over these trips and bundles several delivery orders into one run, even when the orders change at short notice. The gain comes from the number of trips per shift, not from any single one.
The courier's cabinet is configured to the customer's requirements and designed to be easy to clean and disinfect. The goods stay in closed compartments throughout the trip and are separated from the surroundings and from the vehicle's surfaces. For sterile supplies this is the decisive property, because the sterile barrier stays intact until the compartment is opened.
It drives around them or stops. Using 3D cameras and the ARCOS vehicle software, the SALLY courier decides for itself, within defined sections of its course, whether there is room to pass or whether it has to wait. Laser scanners and TOF cameras in the direction of travel provide the safety layer, and light signals and voice output announce the vehicle.
