An arm sticks out of this Roborock vacuum to move toys and socks out the way
In brief: Robotic vacuums can sometimes be like curious toddlers. Leave a sock or towel lying around, and they’ll gleefully find it, tangling themselves in the mess. If you’re tired of having your cleaning sessions cut short by such mishaps, Roborock has an innovative solution for you.
Roborock has taken the wraps off one of the most innovative robot vacuum cleaners to date at the annual CES tech show in Las Vegas – the Saros Z70. At first glance, it looks like your average Roborock vac. But this flagship model packs a serious punch with a built-in robotic arm capable of grabbing and moving obstacles out of the way.
This ability is powered by Roborock’s new OmniGrip feature, a five-axis mechanical arm neatly housed within the vacuum’s compact 7.98 cm body. The arm is equipped with a suite of precision sensors, RGB cameras, and LED lighting. When needed, it extends to pick up and reposition objects such as socks, small towels, tissues, and sandals. As long as the object weighs under 300 grams and isn’t alive, the arm will deftly move it aside.
Helping that arm is AI bundled into the device, capable of identifying over 108 different obstacles. Those are pre-defined, but the vacuum can identify and label another 50 items. The vacuum initially makes a note of these obstructions, carries on cleaning what it can, and later returns to offending areas to deploy the robotic arm. The company says that the feature enables the Z70 to clean spaces that traditional robot vacuums struggle to access.
The arm functionality isn’t enabled by default and can be customized through Roborock’s smartphone app to specify which objects it should interact with and where they should be placed.
Beyond the cool arm trick, the Saros Z70 boasts a suction power rated 22,000 Pa that puts it among the most powerful robot vacuums available. It also includes Roborock’s FreeFlow brush system and a liftable side brush designed to prevent hair from tangling the vacuum’s internals.
For navigation, the Z70 employs Roborock’s StarSight Autonomous System 2.0, which enhances precision in mapping and navigation. This system integrates laser sensors, dual 3D time-of-flight cameras, and RGB cameras to map environments and identify obstacles.
While an exact release date and pricing have yet to be announced, Roborock has confirmed that the Saros Z70 robot vacuum and mop combo will hit the market in the first half of 2025.
