Run the Chain-of-Custody Test
Moving supplies is a logistics problem. Moving medications, specimens, or blood products is a custody problem that happens to involve logistics, and the two are frequently quoted as if they were the same job.
The Bot Scout chain-of-custody test asks who is recorded as releasing the load, who is recorded as receiving it, whether the compartment can be opened in transit, and what happens to the contents if the robot is stranded mid-route. If any of those four is unanswered, the system is a supply cart with navigation.
Vendors including Diligent Robotics build for clinical floors, and the general-purpose indoor platforms from Pudu Robotics and Keenon Robotics serve different requirements. The difference that matters is the locking, logging, and authentication rather than the drive system.
| Load type | Custody requirement | Time sensitivity | What to specify |
|---|---|---|---|
| General supplies | Low | Low | Route reliability and capacity |
| Medications | High | Medium | Locked compartment and authenticated release |
| Controlled substances | Very high | Medium | Full audit log and dual authentication |
| Specimens | High | High | Temperature, orientation, and delivery time |
| Blood products | Very high | Very high | Temperature chain and escalation on delay |
Routes, Access, and Failure
Every clinical route crosses badge readers, elevators, and locked units. That integration decides the deployment, and it belongs in the project plan rather than in the robot's specification sheet.
The most important design question is failure: if the robot stalls between departments with a time-critical load, who is alerted, how quickly, and who retrieves the contents. A system without a written escalation path should not carry a time-critical load at all.
The building-wide framing is in the hospital robots guide, and the cross-sector comparison in the delivery robots guide.
- Specify locking, authentication, and audit logging by load type.
- Write the escalation path for a stalled robot with a time-critical load.
- Map badge access and elevator control on every route.
- Confirm temperature handling for specimens and blood products.
- Define who retrieves the load and how fast, on every shift.
What It Does and Does Not Change
Where these systems work, they remove walking from staff whose time is expensive and clinically valuable. That is a real benefit and it is measurable: track staff walking time and delivery latency before and during a pilot.
Regulatory status generally sits outside the medical device framework because the robot does not act on a patient, though pharmacy and controlled-substance rules still apply to the contents — the FDA medical device program is the reference point for the boundary.
This page is educational and is not medical, regulatory, or purchasing advice for a specific clinical programme.
Bottom Line
Medical delivery robots are specified by custody requirements and route access, not by payload. Write the escalation path for a stalled time-critical load before comparing vendors.
Specify locking, authentication, and the stalled-robot escalation path by load type before requesting quotes.
FAQs
What do medical delivery robots transport?
Supplies, linens, meals, medications, specimens, and in some deployments blood products. Custody and time-sensitivity requirements rise sharply across that list.
How is chain of custody maintained?
Through locked compartments, authenticated release and receipt, and an audit log. Controlled substances typically require stronger authentication and full logging.
What happens if the robot stalls with a time-critical load?
That escalation path must be written before deployment: who is alerted, how quickly, and who retrieves the contents. A system without one should not carry time-critical loads.
Are medical delivery robots regulated as medical devices?
Generally not, since they do not act on a patient. Pharmacy and controlled-substance rules still apply to what they carry.