What does a building need before using indoor delivery robots?
A building-side checklist for routes, doors, elevators, handoff points, residents or guests, operations, and the limits of vendor-specific integrations.
Short answer
What to know
Begin by selecting a bounded delivery workflow and walking its route from dispatch point to handoff. Check floor transitions, door clearances, lift access, shared pedestrian space, delivery permissions, connectivity, security, and who handles exceptions. Building readiness is a coordination problem as much as a robot-selection problem.
Choose and observe one workflow
Name the delivery item, origin, destination, hours, service volume, handoff method, and people involved. A hotel amenity run, hospital logistics route, and apartment meal delivery have different access, privacy, timing, and chain-of-custody needs. Pilot a route that is representative but bounded enough to observe safely.
Walk the full route at busy and quiet times. Note thresholds, automatic doors, narrow corridors, floor finishes, elevators, security boundaries, guest-only areas, and locations where people may need to pass. A floor plan is a start; it cannot show every temporary obstacle, queue, or human behavior that affects the route.
Plan building interfaces and exceptions
Ask the robot provider which interfaces are supported at this site—such as elevator dispatch, door access, call systems, or delivery lockers—and what building equipment or third-party integration is required. Confirm versions, security review, test ownership, and failure behavior in writing. A communication standard or vendor claim does not by itself prove compatibility with a particular elevator or building system.
Agree how staff, occupants, and emergency responders interact with the robot. Define a stop procedure, manual recovery, incident reporting, cleaning, charging, access credentials, and a contact for system outages. Review pedestrian clearances and applicable safety and accessibility obligations with qualified professionals before live operation.
Put it into practice
A site-planning checklist
- Bounded workflow and route map
- Site walk during real operating conditions
- Written interface and compatibility scope
- Exception, recovery, and incident procedure
- Accessibility and safety review
Further reading
Primary references
- ISO — ISO 3691-4:2020
International safety requirements and verification for driverless industrial trucks and their systems; confirm current editions and scope before use.
- VDA — VDA 5050
Interface specification for communication between mobile robots and a master control system; it does not certify a building or robot.
- U.S. Access Board — ADA Standards
U.S. accessibility standards reference; local applicability and project review still matter.