The Evolution of Robot Vacuums

There were a slew of innovations in robot vacuums on the CES show floor this year, from arms and legs to extendable mops, movable towers, and new navigation systems.

As the industry races ahead in its quest to find the best way to clean our floors, it can be hard to see the function through all the hype. I spent the last week in Las Vegas hanging with our robot friends to find out just how much better they’re getting. Here’s a look at all the new tech that came out and how it could help keep your floors sparklingly clean.

The main focus of flagship robovacs over the last few years has been obstacle avoidance. Adding AI-powered camera navigation systems has helped robots avoid getting stuck on socks, slippers, and toys, but it means they haven’t actually cleaned all of your floor.

The solution: adding a robotic arm to move the items out of the way. Roborock’s Saros Z70 and Dreame’s concept vacuum both showed off what a robovac can do, given a robotic claw on top.

The OmniGrip arm on the Roborock Saros Z70. Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Both companies say they have software that will allow you to designate where items get placed, letting the vacuum tidy up for you in a whole new way. Roborock said you can designate an area for the bot to put things it cleans up, and Dreame said its concept vac will be able to put specific items in specific places, such as cat toys by the cat bed or shoes by the front door. Neither demoed their app, however, so I didn’t get to see how this works.

The biggest limitation for these arms is weight: Roborock’s can only pick up light items up to 300 grams — it’s currently programmed for socks, tissues, small washcloths, and sandals. Dreame says its will be capable of up to 500 grams, which means it can tackle shoes ( a sneaker up a men’s size 42/9). But only Roborock actually demoed its robot picking anything up — and that was just a sock.

Dreame’s arm does look more robust. It’s bigger and thicker with a fatter pincer claw. But I didn’t get to touch it. I did get to play with the Saros Z70’s arm, and it felt surprisingly strong, especially for how slim it is.

What Dreame’s arm has that Roborock’s doesn’t (yet) are attachments. Dreame showed off a small toolbox that stored two brushes — a sponge for wet messes and a bristle brush. The idea is that the robot can attach these to its arms and then get into nooks and crannies the main robot can’t. I didn’t get to see the robot actually do any of this, though, so it’s all still a concept.

Robovac makers are adding appendages on the other side of their bots as well. Both Dreame’s concept vacuum and its new Ultra X50 have two little legs — small appendages that extend from under their body to lift them up.

Dreame’s concept robot vacuum can lift itself up and has an arm for moving items out of its way. Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

They’re not articulating legs; they’re just small levers that help propel the bot up onto a step, and then its forward momentum knocks them down as it passes the step. The benefit here is navigating high room transitions, not really stairs. So, if you have a small step between your


Credit: www.theverge.com