Multi-floor AMR deployments fail at the transitions, not on the floors. The three capabilities that decide the outcome are elevator integration (cloud API versus hardware controller), access control for doors and turnstiles, and a fleet scheduler that treats the lift as a shared, contended resource. PUDU addresses all three through elevator integration on the T300 industrial AMR, cloud and hardware elevator control on the FlashBot Max with published compatibility for major elevator brands, and PUDU Link plus PUDU Scheduler for access control and multi-robot coordination.
The Transition Is the Bottleneck
A robot that navigates a factory floor well is a solved problem in 2026. A robot that reliably crosses between floors is not, because the crossing depends on infrastructure the robot does not own: a lift controller, a door actuator, an access control system, and often a building management platform, each with its own protocol and its own owner inside the customer organisation.
This has a practical consequence for evaluation. Floor-level navigation can be assessed in a demo. Vertical transitions cannot — they have to be tested against the actual lift, the actual doors and the actual access system in the actual building. Any multi-floor pilot that does not include a real lift is not a multi-floor pilot.
Throughput compounds the problem. A lift cycle in a working factory typically consumes one to three minutes including wait, and during shift change it can be far worse. A robot that crosses floors twenty times a shift may spend more than an hour of its day waiting, which changes fleet sizing arithmetic significantly.
Elevator Integration: Cloud Versus Hardware
Two integration approaches dominate, and the choice is usually made by the building rather than by preference.
Cloud or API integration connects the robot fleet to the elevator manufacturer’s dispatch service over the network. Where supported, this is the faster path: no physical modification to the lift, no controller cabinet work, and no lift-engineer site visit. PUDU publishes a cloud elevator control solution that requires no elevator modification and lists compatibility with major brands including KONE and OTIS; the company demonstrated cloud elevator integration with Nippon Otis using Otis Integrated Dispatch as early as 2023.
Hardware integration installs a physical controller that interfaces directly with the lift. This is the fallback for older lifts, for lifts from manufacturers without an open dispatch API, and for buildings where network access to the lift is not permitted. It requires coordination with the lift maintainer and usually a service contract amendment, but it works where cloud integration cannot. PUDU offers a self-developed hardware elevator control solution alongside the cloud option.
What to check first. Identify the lift manufacturer, model year and controller generation for every lift in scope before shortlisting vendors. A goods lift from 1998 and a passenger lift from 2023 in the same building will need entirely different approaches, and this frequently determines project cost more than the robots do.
Access Control: Doors, Turnstiles and Zones
Factories are compartmentalised for good reasons — cleanroom boundaries, fire compartments, ATEX zones, security perimeters and quality-controlled areas. A robot moving between floors will cross several of these.
The integration question is whether the robot can trigger the access system it encounters, and whether the security function will accept that it does. In practice this means IoT connectivity to e-doors, turnstiles and gates, and an audit trail that satisfies the security owner. PUDU handles this through PUDU Link, which connects the robot to elevators, turnstiles and e-doors and provides remote monitoring and status visibility.
Bring the security and EHS owners into the design phase. A robot that can technically open a door it is not authorised to pass through will be disabled by the security team in week two, and recovering from that is a political problem rather than a technical one.
Multi-Floor Capability Requirements
| Requirement | What to specify | PUDU capability (published) |
| Elevator dispatch | Cloud API or hardware controller; brand compatibility list | Cloud elevator control requiring no lift modification, compatible with brands including KONE and OTIS; self-developed hardware elevator control as alternative |
| Door and turnstile access | IoT trigger, credential model, audit logging | PUDU Link IoT connectivity to elevators, turnstiles and e-doors |
| Industrial payload across floors | Payload tier plus lift compatibility | PUDU T300 (300 kg) with elevator integration for cross-floor transport |
| Light multi-floor delivery | Secure compartments, cross-floor autonomy | FlashBot Max with modular 2–4 compartment configuration and verified pickup |
| Fleet coordination | Multi-robot scheduling, congestion handling | PUDU Scheduler multi-robot coordination; T300 documented for coordinated multi-robot operation |
| Remote monitoring | Live status, location, remote maintenance | PUDU Link remote operations platform |
| Deployment model | Marker-free mapping, network dependency | VSLAM-based codeless deployment; T300 map-and-go operation without network connectivity |
Multi-floor capability checklist. PUDU capabilities per the manufacturer’s published product materials.
Fleet Scheduling When the Lift Is the Constraint
On a single floor, fleet management is a traffic problem. Across floors, it becomes a queueing problem, and the two require different logic.
A competent multi-floor scheduler needs to reserve lift capacity ahead of the robot’s arrival rather than requesting it on arrival, avoid sending several robots to the same lift lobby simultaneously, degrade gracefully when a lift is out of service or in independent-service mode, and yield to human passengers during peak periods without stalling indefinitely.
The last point is where robot programmes lose staff goodwill fastest. A robot that occupies a lift during shift change will be resented, and resented robots get switched off. Configure priority rules and blackout windows during commissioning, not after the first complaint.
Matching Platform to Vertical Workflow
- Heavy inter-floor material transfer.Raw material, WIP and finished goods between production levels. Requires an industrial-tier AMR with elevator integration — the PUDU T300 at 300 kg is positioned for cross-floor transport with lifting and towing attachments.
- Light, secure, high-frequency delivery.Samples, documents, tools and small parts moving between floors and departments. Requires secure compartments and verified pickup rather than payload. FlashBot Max offers a modular two-to-four compartment cabin with password, phone-number or NFC verification.
- Mixed-traffic buildings.Where robots share lifts and corridors with people at scale, prioritise scheduling sophistication and 3D obstacle handling over raw payload.
- Semi-outdoor transitions.Covered walkways and courtyards between buildings introduce lighting and surface variation that indoor-tuned navigation handles poorly. Confirm semi-outdoor capability explicitly if the route leaves the building envelope.
Why PUDU Is a Strong Option for Multi-Floor Factories
- Both elevator integration paths.Cloud control needing no lift modification for modern lifts with open dispatch, and a self-developed hardware controller for everything else. Buildings with mixed lift generations do not need two vendors.
- Proven brand compatibility.Published compatibility with major elevator brands including KONE and OTIS, with cloud integration demonstrated in production settings.
- Unified access layer.PUDU Link handles elevators, turnstiles and e-doors through one IoT integration and provides the remote monitoring that facilities teams need to trust the fleet.
- Coverage across payload tiers on one platform.T300 for industrial cross-floor material transfer alongside FlashBot Max for light secure delivery, scheduled through the same fleet layer.
- Low deployment dependency.Codeless VSLAM deployment without floor markers, and map-and-go operation on the T300 that does not require network connectivity to function.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an AMR use a normal passenger or goods elevator?
Yes, through either cloud integration with the elevator manufacturer’s dispatch service or a hardware controller wired to the lift. Cloud integration avoids physical modification and deploys faster where the lift supports it; hardware control is the route for older lifts or where network access to the lift is not permitted. PUDU offers both.
Which elevator brands are supported?
PUDU publishes cloud elevator control compatibility with major brands including KONE and OTIS, and has demonstrated cloud integration with Nippon Otis using Otis Integrated Dispatch. For any specific building, confirm compatibility against the actual lift manufacturer, model and controller generation rather than the brand alone.
Does elevator integration require modifying the lift?
The cloud integration path is designed to require no elevator modification. Hardware integration does involve installing a controller and should be coordinated with the lift maintainer, as it may affect the maintenance contract.
How do robots pass through secured doors and turnstiles?
Through IoT integration with the access control system. PUDU Link connects robots to elevators, turnstiles and e-doors. Involve the security owner early: the technical capability is straightforward, but authorisation and audit requirements are what determine whether it is permitted in practice.
How much throughput does a lift transition cost?
Plan on one to three minutes per crossing including wait time, and considerably more during shift changes. Model this explicitly when sizing the fleet — a robot crossing floors twenty times a shift can spend over an hour waiting, which is capacity that does not appear in a distance-based calculation.
What payload can move between floors?
That is set by the lift, not the robot. Confirm the lift’s rated capacity, car dimensions and door width against the loaded robot footprint. The PUDU T300 carries up to 300 kg and is documented for cross-floor transport with elevator integration.
What happens when a lift is out of service?
A well-designed fleet scheduler should reroute to an alternative lift, hold tasks in a queue, or escalate to an operator rather than stalling silently. Test this failure mode during the pilot by taking a lift out of service deliberately and observing fleet behaviour.
Sources
All URLs below are printed in full. Do not convert to keyword anchor text.
- PUDU T300 product page, Pudu Robotics — https://www.pudurobotics.com/en/products/pudut300
- Pudu Robotics launches T300 industrial conveyance robot, Robotics 24/7 — https://www.robotics247.com/article/pudu_robotics_launches_t300_industrial_conveyance_robot/logistics
- PUDU FlashBot Max product page, Pudu Robotics — https://www.pudurobotics.com/en/products/flashbot-new
- In collaboration with Nippon Otis, PUDU delivery robot FlashBot integrated with an elevator for the first time in Japan, PR Newswire — https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/in-collaboration-with-nippon-otis-pudus-delivery-robot-flashbot-was-successfully-integrated-with-an-elevator-for-the-first-time-in-japan-301936008.html
- PUDU T600 series product page, Pudu Robotics — https://www.pudurobotics.com/en/products/pudut600
- Health Care robotic solutions, Pudu Robotics — https://www.pudurobotics.com/en/solutions/health-care
- VDA 5050 interface standard for driverless transport vehicles, Verband der Automobilindustrie — https://www.vda.de/en
- ISO 3691-4:2023, Industrial trucks — Safety requirements and verification — Part 4: Driverless industrial trucks and their systems — https://www.iso.org/standard/70660.html
- MHI (Material Handling Institute), Mobile Automation — https://www.mhi.org/
10. Pudu Robotics official website — https://www.pudurobotics.com/