Mobile robots responsible for transport at Laakso Joint Hospital alongside people

When completed, the Laakso Joint Hospital will be a showcase for modern health care, which is also reflected in the inhouse logistics. Mobile robots will be responsible for transport as much as possible, transporting laundry, food and medicines alike safely and efficiently.

Laakso Joint Hospital, which will be completed in stages in the Laakso Hospital area, is one of Finland’s largest hospital projects. It will be planned as part of the Meilahti campus, which will be one of the four hospital areas in the Helsinki metropolitan area in the 2030s. Facilities will be completed for the use of both the City of Helsinki and the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS).

Sweco has been involved in logistics planning at Laakso Joint Hospital since 2019, when a preliminary study on transport automation was carried out. “We outlined the number of robots needed for inhouse transport, what they cost and how profitable the use of robotics is,” says, Senior Specialist Ville Ruuskanen of Sweco.

More recently, elements such as a food service concept have been designed for the hospital. “We want to make Laakso Joint Hospital the most modern facility in Finland, which is why automated solutions such as mobile robots will be responsible for inhouse transport as much as possible.”

Space needed by robots taken into account from the planning phase

In a hospital of this size, robots have to carry all kinds of different loads. In fact, robotics has been taken into consideration in spatial planning, and experts from Sweco have worked with architects to determine the routes, charging points and minimum space needed by the robots. The advantage of new construction is that the operating environment can be tailored to mobile robots from the outset.

“The joint hospital will be fitted with dedicated lifts for passengers and goods, and there are two logistics lobbies on each floor,” Ruuskanen says. The premises also feature an underground service area, where robots retrieve and return roller cages. This way robots do not move in the same premises as patients and visitors. “This ensures safe and efficient transport without disturbances, which could be caused by chairs or other temporary obstacles.”

New innovations in hospital logistics

The objective is to use robots innovatively, which is why different alternatives are explored thoroughly. “We will be selecting the healthcare and industry robotics solutions that are the best fit for Laakso Joint Hospital,” Ruuskanen says. This will allow for robotics to support the various functions and users of the joint hospital in their daily lives.

Robotics solutions have not yet been developed for all the possible hospital transport needs, neither in Finland nor elsewhere in the world. These include the automated transport of empty beds. There is also a desire to develop a multifunctional robot in Laakso, which would be capable of transporting both large roller cages and small loads to rooms. “As such, different robots are already able to handle a wide range of material deliveries from laundry to food supply, samples, waste transport and medicines.”

In addition to innovation, hospital logistics pays attention to personal safety. Pharmaceutical transport is one of the most demanding types of transport. “In pharmaceutical transport, the entire transport chain must be theft-proof and traceable,” Ruuskanen stresses. Food transport, on the other hand, must ensure that food is not contaminated, and in the transport of medical supplies, correct timing in terms of care and the quantities of supplies to be stored is key.

As the hospital project progresses, safe inhouse logistics will be further developed in collaboration with users. In this way, interfaces between humans and robots are also outlined in advance. “It is important to know where automation assumes responsibility for transport and where the responsibility is given back to a person,” Ruuskanen says. Once all the details have been sorted out, the transport process becomes optimised, functional and efficient at each stage.

Picture: TUG/mobiilirobotit