Panasonic HOSPI

Overview

Panasonic's autonomous hospital delivery robot, in use in Japanese hospitals since 2013 and abroad since 2015 (Changi General Hospital, Singapore). It carries medicines, lab specimens and patient records in a lockable cabinet that opens only with an authorised ID card, navigates from a pre-programmed hospital map with no wires or tape in the building, and uses lifts and doors on its own. Panasonic's data: 630 x 725 x 1,386 mm, about 170 kg with battery, up to 20 kg load (six medication trays), 1.0 m/s maximum speed. Certified to ISO 13482 and the Japanese JIS B 8445 / B 8446-1 safety standards for personal care robots. Sold per project; no public price.

Variants & pricing

Full price history

Sensors

• Horizontal scanning sensor (obstacle avoidance)
• Vertical scanning sensor (obstacle avoidance)
• Ledge-drop detection for stairs and escalators
• Optional built-in camera

Locomotion

wheeled

Use cases

medication delivery, specimen transport, patient records and supplies

Software

SDK: ✗ · ROS: ✓ · Open source: ✗

Key facts

• Panasonic Connect Asia release dated 2015-07-23 (fetched 2026-10-17): model AP-3020A003, 630 x 725 x 1,386 mm, about 170 kg with battery, max 20 kg or six trays of 350 x 440 x 390 mm, 1.0 m/s (configurable), about 9 h on a lead battery, about 4.5 h charge, access by ID card only.
• Runtime conflict: the 2015 release says about 9 h (lead battery); a Panasonic R&D Singapore talk of 2022-11-10 (rosindustrial.org PDF, read 2026-10-17) lists 630 x 705 x 1,390 mm, about 170 kg, about 20 kg, 1.0 m/s and 7 h running / 2.5 h charge. Because the two Panasonic documents disagree, battery_hours is left null. That talk also says 27 robots were delivered to 11 hospitals worldwide and that HOSPI uses ROS 2 with lift and door integration.
• The task brief named AP-3021AM; no fetched Panasonic page confirmed that model number, so only AP-3020A003 (2015 release) is recorded.
• Safety: Panasonic news release of 2016-04-20 (news.panasonic.com/global/topics/5001, read 2026-10-17) reports the first certification under the new JIS safety standards for personal care robots (JIS B 8445 = ISO 13482, and JIS B 8446-1) issued by JET, and ISO 13482.
• HOSPI Trail is a separate model with a detachable cart (Panasonic IREX 2023 leaflet, tech.panasonic.com, read 2026-10-17: 5 h run / 2.5 h charge, 0.75 m/s, up to 60 kg cart load, 435 x 565 x 1,060 mm storage). It is not covered by this entry.
• Status 'limited': HOSPI is installed in a limited number of hospitals on a per-project basis; no source gives a public price or a general order page.
• year_announced 2013 follows Panasonic's statements that HOSPI has been in hospital use since 2013 (9 years of operation in the 2022 talk); the 2013 news page itself could not be fetched.

About Panasonic

Japanese electronics group (Panasonic Group, founded 1918) whose hospital delivery robot HOSPI has been in use in Japanese hospitals since 2013 and in Singapore since 2015.

https://www.panasonic.com · Founded: 1918 · HQ: Osaka, Japan