Largest hospital AGV fleet in Australia/NZ

‘The largest Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV’s) fleet in Australia is at the $2.4 billion high-tech Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia.’ (Minion 2017). The hospital (pictured) has 25 ‘driverless’ AGV robots delivering food, linen, surgical equipment store’s, waste and pharmacy with several hundred tonnes per day, on over 1600 missions throughout the facility daily.

The AGV’s work in the background, moving within dedicated lifts and over 30 lift lobbies. Benefits include; reduced costs and damage to equipment which may otherwise need to be manually wheeled by hospital staff, increased efficiency and tracking.

“The new Royal Adelaide Hospital is home to the most advanced medical technology in the world …designed with the input of some of the brightest minds in the medical world, we’ve delivered a hospital that puts every aspect of patient care at the forefront.” Jack Snelling SA’s Health Minister. (Minion 2017).

Equipment:

• A fleet of 25 RA-GVs
• Contour/Range-sensing navigation
• Trolley pick/drop stations with automatic RFID signalling
• Automatic Park’n’Charge area
• Central fleet control station with automatic scheduling of RA-GV
movements plus elevator & auto-door activation controls

Solution Benefits:

• Increased safety
• Greater efficiency & traceability
• Reduced costs
• Less damage to equipment
• More staff time can be reallocated to direct patient care

The fleet delivers food & beverages (hot/cold), laundry, pharmaceuticals, mail, sterilised items and other supplies, as well as several forms of waste between patient wards and kitchens, stores and many other functional areas within the hospital