Challenge

Imperia Hotel and Suites Boucherville was interested in automating its room delivery service to improve overall customer satisfaction. This service was to take the form of multiple delivery robots that would receive a delivery assignment, operate the elevator automatically and transport items to the appropriate room number, on any of the hotel floors.

A robotic solution for room service was ideal because it would allow the hotel to make deliveries more quickly and give employees time to focus on other activities that directly impact the customer experience at the reception desk. In addition, the hotel saw a unique marketing opportunity to garner more interest.

Solution

The hotel decided to work with Sir Steward, a Canadian system integration company specializing in self-ordering systems and self-service kiosks for the hotel and restaurant industry. Leveraging Omron’s LD Series Mobile Robots, Sir Steward has all the elements necessary to provide a fully robotic delivery solution that can be customized for different situations. Sir Steward chose to work with Omron’s technology thanks to its high-quality, intuitive programming and exceptional ease-of-use. Robust local team support was also a major factor supporting the choice. The solution is also highly customizable and works with a variety of payloads for each robot.

The automated solution successfully covered all requirements for an automated room service system. Each delivery robot takes the elevator on its own by communicating directly with the control panel. Once it arrives at the customer’s door, it sends the customer a text message with a code to unlock the compartment containing the correct order.

Omron’s LD Mobile Robots are self-navigating vehicles that transport materials throughout dynamic environments without requiring facility modifications. They incorporate Omron’s proprietary software that supports goal setting as well as intelligent navigation around unplanned obstacles. They manage their own charge levels to avoid running out of power.

The solution uses Omron’s CJ2M Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) for the elevator interface. The fully integrated technology made it possible for Sir Steward to quickly develop a completely customizable solution. Every hotel will have a unique elevator implementation, so having a powerful PLC-based controller makes it simple to modify the logic to fits the specific needs of the implementation.

Results

By freeing up hotel employees from the task of delivering room service items, the mobile robot solution allowed them to focus on things demanding their attention at the reception desk. This significantly improved efficiency and customer satisfaction.

In addition, the mobile robot-based delivery service generated significant marketing value, since the hotel became the first to implement that sort of technology. Customers are intrigued and delighted to find one of Omron’s mobile robots at their door, and new customers
are curious to see the robots for themselves.