Roborock, a Chinese robotic vacuum cleaner brand, unveiled a concept device with two legs that can climb stairs in people’s homes, a flashy example of efforts to sell ordinary consumers on the idea of home robots.
The device, called the Saros Rover, is one of many robots on display at CES, the annual technology conference opening in Las Vegas on Tuesday. It’s the first robot vacuum cleaner with two wheel-legs, according to the company, which is formally known as Beijing Roborock Technology Co. Those legs can be raised and lowered independently of each other, the firm said in a statement Tuesday, allowing it to climb steps and navigate other uneven surfaces while making sudden stops and small turns along the way.
Roborock was a surprise hit at last year’s CES, when it unveiled a different robotic vacuum, the Saros Z70, which had a mechanical arm that could pick up stray socks. While the company dazzled onlookers at the show with a tightly choreographed demo, the device was met with a lukewarm reaction from tech reviewers when it went on sale a few months later for $2,599 in the US. Aside from the high price, a common complaint was that the Z70 could only recognize a small handful of items, such as tissues, paper and slippers (but not, say, kids or pet toys).
Following that ill-fated launch, Roborock is taking a different approach with the two-legged Rover, which does not have a confirmed launch date, according to the company.
The Rover navigates using a combination of artificial intelligence, several motion sensors and 3D spatial information. In a demonstration for media ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, it successfully climbed several steps, rolled down a ramp and pulled off a small jump — a maneuver it might use to go downstairs or bypass certain obstacles, a company spokesperson told Bloomberg.
Like the Z70 before it, however, the Rover moved slowly when standing on its legs — more so than a regular robotic vacuum cleaner that’s always low to the ground. The company declined to say how long the device might last between battery charges.
It was not immediately clear from the carefully staged presentation what happens if the Rover falls and whether it can reorient itself without the help of a human. In the event of an accident, the robot will try to get up by itself, the spokesperson said.
Robotics will be such a prevailing theme at CES that the conference’s organizer, the Consumer Technology Association, set aside a dedicated space for the category at this year’s show. In addition to home appliances like the sort Roborock is selling, a number of brands will be showing humanoid robots, some of which promise to be capable of complex, multi-step tasks, such as sorting and folding laundry.
Many challenges remain before mainstream adoption of the technology, not least of which are the high prices of mechanically complex machines like the Rover. Companies also have to show progress in improving mobility and battery life to levels where consumers can feel comfortable entrusting tasks to a domestic robot.
Wollman writes for Bloomberg.
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