Chinese robot vacuum cleaner Roborock reveals an AI-powered robotic arm

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BEIJING – Chinese robot vacuum cleaner company Roborock on Monday revealed a new model that comes with a foldable arm to remove socks and other obstacles – a feature powered by artificial intelligence.

It’s the latest step toward what Roborock president Quan Gang expects will be the inevitable: that robot vacuum cleaners will become as essential as washing machines.

It’s something that could happen in as little as three years, especially with the emergence of AI, Quan told CNBC in an interview in late November. “If the era of the flowering of AI has really arrived, I am convinced that robot vacuum cleaners will be the first category to apply AI,” he said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

Using the AI ​​that the company developed, the Roborock Saros Z70 can detect and remove obstacles such as socks, towels, tissues and sandals that weigh less than 300 grams (10.58 ounces), according to the company.

The Saros Z70 is set for release in major global markets in the first half of the year, but Roborock has yet to announce pricing. The product reveal comes ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show that begins Tuesday in Las Vegas.

Since the Massachusetts based iRobot launched its Roomba floor vacuum robot in 2002circular machines have evolved to include mopping and the ability to automatically return to the load base. Many companies, including several based in China, now sell robot vacuum cleaners.

Beijing-based Roborock began selling to the United States in 2018, Quan said, noting that sales in the country won’t begin to take off until 2023. Roborock also sells its robot vacuum cleaners in countries such as Germany, China and South Korea, and it does. make sure to adhere to local data privacy rules, Quan said.

But robot vacuum penetration rates remain low – just over 10% in developed countries and single digits in developing countries, Quan said. He said that it is both a challenge and a potential for growth, which he expects can get a boost from the integration of artificial intelligence.

The Virgin and Wired At the end of last year they both named various Roborock models the best robot vacuum cleaner available. But the machines are not cheap.

“Roborock’s S8 MaxV Ultra ($1,799.99) is an outstanding vacuum,” The Verge said, noting that it’s “the best model in the relatively new category of ‘hands-free’ robot vacuums, bots that do practically everything for you: empty bins, fill their mop tanks, and clean and dry their mop pads.”

“Roborock invented this category with the S7 MaxV Ultra and you keep making it better,” said The Verge.

Wired chose Roborock’s Qrevo S, which sells for $800 on Amazon. The review highlighted Qrevo’s lidar-based navigation and AI function that allow the machine to distinguish between carpets and tiles for vacuuming or mopping, respectively.

The competition is fierce. CNET reported that robot vacuum cleaners from two other companies are under attack the best of 2025the $900 Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo — which also has a self-emptying dustbin — and the $359 iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus.