Zeus Robotics unveils ZERA, its first in-hospital logistics robot
"We’re excited to take ZERA into real-world deployments and continue building the future of hospital operations," said the founder, Vivek Thankachan.
It’s been about three months since we last connected with the Zeus Robotics team in Chattanooga. At the time, the Chief Executive Officer, Vivek Thankachan, provided a preview of their advanced flagship robot product, ZERA, which is designed to run medical equipment from room to room in hospitals.
It could alleviate a large pain point, especially in rural hospitals where staffing is a challenge.
On Wednesday evening, the Zeus Robotics team unveiled ZERA to a room full of friends, family, supporters, and advisors. It is complete with an AI vision system, a robotic arm, 3D LiDAR navigation features, and dual cabin storage to hold materials, linens, samples, or medical equipment.
“It’s a milestone that represents months of building, learning, and staying focused on a real problem inside hospitals,” Thankachan said in his LinkedIn post. “From day one, our goal was simple: don’t just build technology—build something that truly matters. Something that fits into real hospital environments and supports caregivers in their day-to-day work.”
Zeus Robotics hopes to alleviate the healthcare workforce shortage
Originally published November 3, 2025.
According to the World Health Organization, about 4.3 million healthcare workers will be needed by the year 2030. That is a lot of people.
The three co-founders of Zeus Robotics believe there’s another solution to this shortage: Robots.
“When you look at the current situation, around 30 percent of the nurses’ time is spent doing unwanted logistics– things like moving things around the hospital,” said Vivek Thankachan, the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). “At Zeus Robotics, we make robots to move things around the hospital.”
Thankachan is joined by his co-founders, Amal Ashok, who serves as the start-up’s Chief Product Officer (CPO), and Anandhu Sunos, who serves as the start-up’s Chief Technology Officer.
“We believe that the time we save for the nurses to allow them to take care of the patients is also saving time [and resources] for the hospitals,” Sunos said.
Their most advanced robot to date is ZERA. The team said every component of the ZERA is engineered for precision, reliability, and seamless integration with hospital workflows.
It has an AI vision system, a robotic arm, 3D LiDAR navigation features, and dual cabin storage to hold materials, linens, samples, or medical equipment.
“We will take care of these repetitive deliveries within the hospitals… So that the nurses can spend more time on patient care,” Thankachan said.
These three co-founders have spent the last six years working to build this advanced, smart robot. However, Zeus Robotics is now in business start-up mode. To advance their commercialization strategy, they decided to apply to The Company Lab (CO.LAB) and gener8tor Sustainable Mobility Accelerator in Chattanooga.
“Since we are a start-up, we need a person or an organization that has an immense background in the mobility sector,” Thankachan said. “I found that Co.LAB can help guide us into a successful future.”
Plus, Thankachan said he’s come to really like Chattanooga.
“It’s beautiful here,” he said.
Though the co-founders are focused on the healthcare industry right now, their long-term vision is not to be siloed.
“Right now, we are taking care of the healthcare industry, but our ultimate goal is to build a general-purpose robot that can solve certain things, like repetitive tasks that society faces,” he said.
Learn more about Zeus Robotics.
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