List of those things robot vacuum cleaner can do now keep growing. They can create an accurate map of your home so you don't bump into things. They can empty and recharge themselves. They can reach under your chair to clean up dirty trash. Many have dual vacuuming and mopping functions to clean your dog's muddy paw prints.
One thing that most robot vacuums do currently cannot be done is to pick up things off your floor. Running a robot vacuum can save you a lot of time and energy, but it usually requires you to spend 10 to 20 minutes frantically running around trying to de-trap the robovac by moving or picking up cables. , shoe laces and stray hair ties.
This year, Roborock won the race to launch a commercial robot vacuum cleaner with an extendable arm that can pick up small debris that gets in the way, thus becoming the robot housekeeper of your dreams. The Roborock Saros Z70 has this extendable arm with grippers that the company calls Omnigrip. I screamed when I saw it.
Courtesy of Roborock
Turn around right for me
In my testing, a robot vacuum was only useful when its positioning system was accurate; All the suction in the world won't help you if it can't get out from under your chair. I found Roborock's navigation system to be quite accurate. The Saros Z70 uses a combination of sensors for navigation. There's a series of 3D Time-of-Flight sensors to measure the distance between objects and an AI-powered RGB camera to identify obstacles and decide when to deploy the Omnigrip. (The arm remains folded and stowed in a small compartment above the vacuum when not in use.)
The Omnigrip has five separate axes so it can twist and turn itself both horizontally and vertically to delicately grip items in its tiny clips. Currently, it can pick up anything under 300 grams or a little less than a pound, such as tissues, socks or even slippers.
To use Omnigrip, Roborock customers will activate it through the app. As the Saros Z70 moves through your home, it identifies objects that can be lifted while cleaning, then returns to pick them up and put them away when finished. In the app, you can choose the areas of your home where the Omnigrip operates, how it operates, and where it will place the things it picks up.