If you thought that robot vacuums had stalled in their progress now that things are less likely to fall down stairs or bump into walls, think again. Roborock, a competitor to the well-known Roomba, is adding an arm that can pick things up.
At CES, the aforementioned Roborock announced the Saros Z70. The device is equipped with what Roborock calls the next evolution in robot vacuum cleaners: a robot arm.
The idea behind this is that the device no longer has to dodge a sock or Lego creation lying around but can simply pick it up and deposit it in a bin—a robot vacuum cleaner that also tidies up a bit, in other words.
The idea of a robot arm on a vacuum cleaner is not new but has been challenging to implement. The robot arms are expensive to produce in large quantities, and whether they are easy to repair is questionable.
Roborocks are supposed to detect and remove obstacles up to 300 grams. This seems to involve socks and other clothing items lying around mainly. By default, the system will vacuum the floor before returning to pick up various obstacles.
The Saros Z70 costs around $1,600 and is expected to be available in the United States from February 10.
