A hospital’s new robots are running errands* for nurses and can replace the work of up to four people each.

The eight robots, all called Noah, move around in Guangzhou Women and Children’s Hospital, carrying documents, medicine and surgical* equipment weighing up to 330kg.

Using GPS* technology, a Noah bot is able to navigate the hospital’s complex wings with ease and can carry 10 times as much as one human staff member.

Zhang Zhiyao, the hospital’s vice dean of medicine, said the robots are still in their trial phase and are currently only running errands between the center’s pharmacy and the nurses station but have the potential to do much more.

The intelligent Noah bots are programmed with phrases such as “Here I go,” “I’m entering the lift” and “I’ve been obstructed*” to notify their human colleagues of their movements.

The helpers are worth at least US$100,000 and are comprised of more than 150 core patents.

The wheeled and lockable cabinet hauled around by the robots guarantees contamination-free* transport of vital hospital equipment and medication, greatly lowering the risk of human error.

The developers are working on Noah’s visual function and ability to interact with people.(SD-Agencies)