From Hospital Corridors to Nursing Homes: How the M360 LiDAR Enables Service Robots to Truly Understand Human Space

To be honest, at the beginning of making service robots, we were really taken aback. Wheelchairs in hospital corridors, chairs at the corners of nursing homes, and those sudden nurse carts—all these things look like ghosts to the robot.

And that's not all.

Do you think installing a LiDAR on a robot is enough? Wrong. When the MID-360 was installed, the 5cm blind zone meant the robot could never see the threshold under its feet, the reflection from the glass curtain wall in the rain would make the robot "blind," and the battery life—three charges a day is unbearable?

On the first day I installed the M360, I knew this was something different.

People and Robots in Hospitals

We conducted a pilot in a top-grade hospital, and when using the MID-360, the robot often got "stuck" in the corridors:

• The doctor pushed the medical equipment over, and the robot stopped like it had been hit by a needle.
• Last night, the nurse pushing the medicine cart caused too many reflections from the LiDAR, and the robot started to "act up."
• The small threshold on the ground (3cm high) is completely invisible to the MID-360, and it would collide with it.

After switching to the M360, these issues basically disappeared.

5cm blind zoneThis thing may seem small, but it can truly save lives in critical moments. The threshold of the hospital is only 3cm high, which is a mountain for the robot. Now the robot can see these thresholds from 20cm away and decelerate in advance to avoid them. With this small change, the previous daily "door collision" accidents have dropped to zero. The head nurse now says "this robot is more sensible than some nurses."

Details of Nursing Home Life

Nursing homes are even more complex than hospitals. The elderly walk slowly and often stop to chat, so robots must learn to "predict" their behavior.

Previously with the MID-360, the robot operated in a "react only when seen" mode. As elderly people move slowly and often stop to chat, the robot would wait in front, leading to frequent "roadblocks."

The nursing home scenario is the most challenging for a robot's "human touch."

Transparent glass doors, sliding windows—all these are "ghosts" in the eyes of the MID-360, often scaring the robot into a "halt." The dual echo of the M360 can see through these transparent obstacles, allowing the robot to "see clearly."

The current strategy is "wait and let go"—the robot can see the elderly approaching from 3 meters away, actively decelerate to 0.3m/s, and wait until the elderly have completely passed before continuing. Grandma Li at the nursing home now loves to chat with the robot, saying "This robot young man is more polite than my grandson."

That pesky battery life issue

The battery life of service robots is a nightmare for operations managers.

Previously with the MID-360, the 2000mAh battery could last at most 4 hours. A robot would need to be charged once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and again separately in the evening. The most frustrating part was that the robot would just "stand there" during charging, completely unable to work.

I didn't hold much hope when switching to the M360, but the results were

Currently, the robots are "working around the clock"—they are busy during the day and can continue working at night. The hospital's administrative department later calculated that one robot is equivalent to half an employee.

Voltage War in the Charging Station

The power system of service robots is essentially a "universal standard."

Yesterday, we used 24V at a top-tier hospital, and tomorrow we might be using a 48V lead-acid battery at a nursing home. Some places directly use a 220V to 12V switching power supply. The power supply range of 9-27V for the MID-360 is simply not enough for many scenarios.

There was a project in a nursing home where the charging station voltage was 36V, and the MID-360 immediately triggered an alarm, like a"rebellious" child.

The 12-32V wide voltage supply of the M360 is like a "good person" that adapts to any voltage. This seemingly insignificant parameter becomes a "lifeline" when the project is implemented.

The actual significance of IP rating

Do you think the IP67 rating is just a parameter? In the world of service robots, this parameter directly determines the robot's "survival rate."

Hospital corridors often require high-pressure water guns for disinfection, and nursing home gardens occasionally have sprinkler systems. The MID-360 would basically "fail immediately" in such situations.

The IP67 rating of the M360 allows us to confidently use the robot in various harsh environments. Once, during a large event at a hospital, the ground was full of water, and the robot ran for an entire day without any issues.

Real-World Case: During a fire emergency at a nursing home, the fire suppression system was activated, and the robot was executing a delivery task. With the IP67 protection of the M360, the robot completed all delivery tasks until the firefighters arrived. If it were the MID-360, this robot would have been scrapped long ago.

In Conclusion

These two months of pilot testing have given me a new understanding of service robots.

To be honest, at first, I always thought that radar just needed to "see far and see clearly." Now I realize I was wrong; in service scenarios,Survival of the Fittest is more important than survival of the strong.。

While the M360 may not be the top parameter performer, its 5cm blind zone, 4.5W power consumption, and dual echo anti-interference capabilities are exactly what service robots need in specific environments like hospitals and nursing homes.

If you are also working on a service robot project, don't just focus on the specifications. Think about what kind of environment your robot will face and what practical problems it might encounter. Sometimes, "adequate" is more important than "the best."

After all, what truly enables robots to serve people well is not parameters, but understanding.