Danish robot to free up thousands of hours in busy hospitals
The Danish startup Essential Robotics is developing an autonomous mobile robot designed to transport empty hospital beds. The company has now been selected by the Odense Robotics StartUp Fund for a spot in the Danish Technological Institute’s dedicated robotics incubator.
Every day, thousands of hours are spent in Danish hospitals moving empty beds between wards and washing facilities – time that could instead be dedicated to patient care.
Essential Robotics – led by Anton Jørgensen, Emil Månsson, and Rasmus Junge – aims to change that with their autonomous mobile robot, which can automate these heavy logistical tasks and free up valuable human resources.
“We believe that a hospital’s primary task is to care for patients. But there are many other jobs around that care – like logistics – and that’s where we step in to free up human hands so staff can spend more time with patients,” says Anton Jørgensen, CEO of Essential Robotics.
Being selected for the Odense Robotics StartUp Fund gives the company access to soft funding, mentoring, and a dedicated incubation environment at the Danish Technological Institute in Odense, where robotics and drone startups from Denmark and abroad develop their technologies.
From A to B – and back again
According to Anton Jørgensen, the numbers speak for themselves: there are about 800,000 hospital admissions in Denmark each year, and for every admission, a bed must be moved from clean storage to the ward – and back again when it’s no longer needed.
Each manual bed transport can take 15–20 minutes.
“A typical scenario would be a patient who has just been discharged, leaving behind a used bed. The robot drives to the ward, collects the bed, takes it to be washed, and once it’s clean, brings it back to storage,” explains Jørgensen.
From observation to innovation
The idea for the robot came when Essential Robotics’ CTO, Rasmus Junge, was working on a hospital robotics project during his studies.
“He spent time walking the hospital corridors and noticed how many beds, carts, and racks were cluttering the halls. Logistics are necessary, but they aren’t the top priority – and that’s when we decided to do something about it,” says Jørgensen.
Robotics as the way forward
While many solutions already exist for transporting smaller hospital items, Essential Robotics sees a clear gap when it comes to larger items like hospital beds.
During their time in the incubator, the company will focus especially on the commercial side of the business.
“As part of the incubator, I hope we can push the concept forward – especially commercially – to expand our business model and grow both in Denmark and potentially other countries,” says Jørgensen.
Essential Robotics ultimately hopes to scale internationally, seeing massive potential for robotic solutions in hospitals around the world.
“Good healthcare is reliable and efficient, and robotics is the way to get there. Our goal is to bring our solution to hospitals worldwide. Being part of the incubator puts us alongside others who have already succeeded in doing just that,” Jørgensen concludes.