Tag Archives: Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Roborock’s New Flagship Line Brings Sculpted Design to Smart Cleaning at CES 2026

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The idea of a smart home has long been defined by individual devices, each designed to solve a single task in isolation. But modern homes no longer operate in clean lines. Multi-level layouts, pets, kids, and yards that stretch from kitchen tile to sloped grass create environments where a single device rarely finishes the job. At CES 2026, Roborock is using that complexity as a design brief, especially for households across North America where scale and texture demand more than one kind of intelligence.

Roborock’s “The Greatest Meeting the Greatest” theme frames this as a meeting between world-class engineering and the realities of everyday living. This year’s lineup is less about one hero product and more about a family of specialists, from a flagship robot that can see and adapt in three dimensions, to a one-pass floor-care robot, a foam-based floor washer, and an AWD mower that treats the yard as part of the home.

Designer: Roborock

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Greatness in Intelligence

Intelligence in a home context means mastering complexity without constant supervision. The Saros 20, the brand’s flagship product for 2026, introduces StarSight Autonomous System 2.0, with dual-transmitter 3D time-of-flight LiDAR and 21,600 sensor points. This innovation allows the Saros 20 to map spaces, recognize over 200 obstacle types, and distinguish cables from socks or pet bowls, making it even smarter than the previous-gen Saros 10R flagship. At 7.98 cm tall, it slides under low furniture while understanding the space in three dimensions, which matters in homes with layered messes and tight clearances.

AdaptiLift Chassis 3.0 is the mechanical side of that intelligence, lifting and adjusting three wheels independently to cross double-layer thresholds up to 8.5 cm tall, climb onto carpets as thick as 3 cm, and free itself when stuck. Layouts where balcony lips, thick rugs, and split-level transitions trap lesser robots become manageable terrain. Saros 20 learns the best way to cross each threshold and remembers it, treating obstacles as solvable puzzles rather than dead ends.

That philosophy extends outdoors with RockMow X1 LiDAR, Roborock’s first-ever lawnmower for the US market, using 360-degree mechanical LiDAR and dual-camera fusion to map properties up to two acres with trees, slopes, and visually sparse patches. Centimeter-level accuracy and AWD traction let it handle uneven terrain and stay oriented in yards where GPS or boundary wires struggle. It understands a yard the way Saros 20 understands a living room, identifying obstacles and terrain changes autonomously.

Greatness in Performance

Performance shows up as power that delivers consistent results when the mess is layered or the surface changes mid-run. Saros 20’s 35,000 Pa HyperForce motor and dual anti-tangle system, the DuoDivide main brush and FlexiArm Arc side brush, pick up hair and debris without wrapping. Dual spinning mops with up to 13 N downward pressure handle dried stains, managing pet hair in thick carpets, kitchen crumbs, and seasonal grit.

Qrevo Curv 2 Flow is positioned as a one-pass floor-care specialist. Its 270 mm extra-wide roller, 15 N downward pressure, and 220 RPM scrubbing cover more ground in a single sweep. The Roller Shield lifts and covers the mop before carpets, preventing damp spots, while the Edge-Adaptive roller mop gets within 10 mm of baseboards and furniture legs, handling mixed flooring without constant re-passes or wet carpets.

F25 Ace Pro brings foam chemistry to wet-dry cleaning. JetFoaming technology turns 1 ml of Foam Cleaning Solution into 167 million microbubbles that cling to grease and dried spills, softening and encapsulating them before 25,000 Pa suction, 30 N pressure, and 430 RPM scrubbing lift them away. This is designed for kitchens with oil splatter, entryways with mud, and pet zones where layered messes need more than just water.

Greatness in Design & Everyday Living

Fitting into daily life means handling hygiene and maintenance without becoming another source of work. Qrevo Curv 2 Flow’s self-cleaning dock separates clean and dirty water, washes the roller at 75 °C, and dries it with warm air. The dock handles sticky spills and pet zones without turning into another thing that needs scrubbing every weekend, keeping the system fresh and ready without manual intervention.

F25 Ace Pro’s ergonomics focus on the moments when you are holding the device. FlatReach 2.0 lets it lie flat at 180 degrees to reach under furniture at 12.5 cm height, while SlideTech 2.0 uses AI-powered wheels to sense push and pull strength and assist movement, making it feel lighter and more responsive. The 0 mm edge cleaning on three sides and 95 °C self-washing and drying keep the roller fresh.

Saros 20’s RockDock and app ecosystem extend that design philosophy. The dock uses 100 °C hot water to wash mops, bi-directional scrubbing and soaking modes, heated air drying, and auto mop removal before carpets. The Roborock app’s SmartPlan 3.0 learns room types and habits, while pet-friendly intelligence, built-in “Hello Rocky” voice control, and Matter support help the system blend into routines rather than adding another app to babysit.

Greatness Beyond the Room

RockMow X1 LiDAR handles the seasonal realities of yard maintenance. AWD traction and 8 cm obstacle clearance manage wet spring grass, summer growth, and autumn leaves, with a 24 cm cutting width and 40-90 mm cutting range tuned for common lawn types. It is built for properties with trees, slopes, and visually sparse patches where GPS alone would struggle, using LiDAR and cameras to stay oriented across terrain that changes throughout the year.

RockMow represents a broader shift from room-by-room cleaning to full-property autonomy. While Saros 20 and Qrevo Curv 2 Flow handle floors and carpets, and F25 Ace Pro tackles kitchens and hard floors, RockMow extends that philosophy to the yard. The result is a set of tools that treat the home as a continuous environment, indoors and out, rather than a collection of disconnected chores that each require their own app, setup, and maintenance schedule.

Roborock’s CES 2026 lineup feels less like a handful of new gadgets and more like a coordinated attempt to match the scale and texture of modern living. Intelligence, performance, and design show up differently in a kitchen, a living room, and a sloped backyard, but the throughline is the same across North America and beyond: systems that adapt to the mess, the layout, and the people, instead of asking households to adapt to them.

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The post Roborock’s New Flagship Line Brings Sculpted Design to Smart Cleaning at CES 2026 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Narwal Flow 2 at CES 2026: Sees Everything, Cleans Smarter

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Robot vacuums quietly went from novelty to background appliance, yet many still behave like polite bumper cars. They avoid walls, follow schedules, and send maps, but they do not really understand what they are seeing. A cable, a sock, and a pet toy often get the same treatment, which is why people still hover nearby during automatic cleaning runs, ready to intervene when the robot inevitably gets confused by something obvious.

Narwal Flow 2 is the latest step in the brand’s attempt to build a robot that actually sees and decides. It builds on earlier DirtSense and dual-camera work, but now leans on a NarMind Pro autonomous system and a foundation-model brain to recognize unlimited objects, assign risk levels, and adjust both path and cleaning strategy. This is less about more suction and more about better judgment, the kind that changes behavior based on whether it is looking at a table leg, a pet bowl, or a crawling mat.

Designer: Narwal

The 2026 flagship also adopts a brand-new design outlook, with a rational arc-form dock featuring a frosted glass panel on the front and easy-lift water tanks shaped for straight-up lifting. The integrated status light bar communicates through the frosted glass instead of scattered LEDs, giving the dock a more premium, sleek presence. It is designed to look less like an appliance you hide in a corner and more like a considered object that can live in visible spaces without visual friction.

A Robot That Sees and Decides

The Narwal Flow 2 uses dual RGB cameras and a VLA OmniVision model running on a 10 TOPS AI platform to capture 1.5 million data points per second. It categorizes objects as no-risk, low-risk, mid-risk, or high-risk, then adjusts distance and behavior accordingly. Walls invite close cleaning within 8 mm, pet bowls get 20 mm of space, and high-risk items like pet waste trigger a protective bypass at 70 mm.

Adaptive smart cleaning means Flow 2 uses different strategies for dry debris, wet spills, and heavy messes. Dual-direction mopping keeps the side brush from dragging dirty water into clean zones, with a reverse pass to protect the brush and a forward pass to lift stains. Cloud-based recognition feeds back into the model, so the robot becomes more tuned to a specific home over time, learning which corners collect dust and which zones need extra attention.

Living with Pets, Babies, and Busy Schedules

In Pet Care Mode, Flow 2 automatically identifies pet-active zones and adapts for deeper cleaning there, while treating pet bowls, beds, and toys as objects to avoid bumping or soaking. The same visual system that keeps it away from waste can be used to scan for a missing pet on command, turning the robot into a quiet scout when you are not home and want to make sure your dog is not locked in a bedroom.

Baby Care Mode shifts behavior around cribs and crawling mats. Flow 2 can drop into ultra-quiet mode near a sleeping baby, recognize toys left on the floor and nudge you to pick them up, and avoid rolling over dedicated play areas to keep them as clean as possible. The goal is not to replace parenting, but to make the robot feel like it understands which zones are more sensitive than others, adjusting volume and intensity without manual scheduling.

The updated dock and mapping round out the picture. TrueColor 3D mapping turns the home into a more intuitive map where you can tap rooms or furniture for targeted cleaning, while AI Floor Tag remembers floor types and zones. The all-in-one base station now uses a reusable dust bag and washable debris filter, along with hot-water self-cleaning and hot-air drying, so the system stays hygienic without filling a trash bag with single-use consumables every few weeks or emitting odors between runs.

Mopping That Stays Clean While It Cleans

The FlowWash mopping system treats the mop like a moving track rather than a pair of pads. Sixteen angled nozzles continuously infuse the track with fresh water, while a reverse-rolling mop applies 12 N of downward pressure and 140 °F heat. A tight scraper presses against the fabric to strip away dirt in real time, so the surface touching the floor is constantly refreshed instead of slowly turning into a gray sponge you would not want to touch.

Wastewater extraction and storage, with a built-in stirrer in the dirty tank, prevents residue and odors from settling. That matters in homes where mopping is not just about dust, but about food spills, pet accidents, and whatever kids drag in from outside. The system is designed so that by the time Flow 2 returns to its dock, both the floor and the mop have been treated, not just one at the expense of the other.

On a mixed floor with tile in the kitchen and wood in the living room, Flow 2 can push harder and use hotter water on stubborn kitchen stains, then ease off as it moves into more delicate areas. EdgeReach capabilities let the track mop get within 0.19 in of walls and baseboards, reducing the need for manual follow-up with a traditional mop that you have to wring out by hand.

Beyond the Floor

The Flow 2 is not the only thing Narwal is launching at CES 2026. The V50 Series cordless vacuum brings the same auto-empty, smart dirt detection philosophy to a stick form, with a compact dock that handles a 3.2qt dust bin, active dust scraping, and push-in charging. At 3.1lb with dual detachable batteries and 210 AW of suction, it combines CarpetFocus Mode and full-cycle de-tangling with a dirt-detection headlight and multi-cyclone H13 filtration, turning a handheld into something that feels almost as hands-free as a robot.

The U50 Series mattress vacuum targets a different corner of the home, using 137°F iron-heating, UVC sterilization, 60,000 taps per minute, and 16,000 Pa of suction to pull mites and allergens out of mattresses and upholstery. It weighs just 3.7lb and uses sealed, disposable dust bags with a transparent window, so you can treat beds and sofas without dealing with messy dust cups or touching what comes out. Together, V50 and U50 show Narwal extending its maintenance-free, AI-aware design language into spaces the robot cannot reach, keeping the entire home cleaner without multiplying the number of chores you actually have to do.

Narwal Flow 2: See Further, Think Deeper, Clean Smarter

Flow 2 is a sign that robot vacuums are finally moving from smart enough not to fall down the stairs to smart enough to adapt to how you live. It still has big suction numbers and a long spec sheet, but the interesting part is how it sees pets, babies, and messes differently, and how it keeps its own mop clean while it works. For a category that has been chasing power for years, that kind of judgment feels like the more meaningful upgrade, especially when the alternative is manually zoning a map and hoping the robot does not knock over a water bowl or wake up a napping toddler on its next routine pass.

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Roborock’s S8 MaxV Ultra goes to space and cleans 110,000 feet above ground

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If you’re a child of the 80s and the 90s, you probably remember this weird but cute little movie and book, The Brave Little Toaster. He eventually went to Mars for some reason on one of his adventures and some fun was had. Well now, we apparently have a Brave Little Vacuum as Roborock’s S8 MaxV Ultra became the first robot vacuum cleaner to go into space and perform some cleaning duties in extreme environments.

Designer: Roborock

The S8 MaxV Ultra is the brand’s most technologically advanced unit and it has proved itself by going into space and still perform as it should be, even within the harsh environment. It experienced temperatures below -60°C and both its battery and motor were still able to function well. It was even able to be integrated with the flight computer by modifying the control system, allowing it to connect with the ship’s computer and they were able to activate it during the flight.

As seen in the video they uploaded, the vacuum was still able to have all the parts, including the Flexi-Arm Design brushes moving even while in the aforementioned -60°C temperature and while suspended in the air, 110,000 feet above ground. But other than the control system, most of the overall mechanical systems were left unmodified, showing off the robo vacuum’s capabilities, including its ultra-reactive AI 2.0 obstacle recognition, built-in voice assistant, and Flexi-Arm Design.

But since not all of us will be going to space anyways, the S8 MaxV Ultra is still very useful for earth-bound people. It has features like the FlexiArm Design™ Side Brush and the Extra Edge Spinning Mop System that lets it have 100% corner coverage as it’s able to reach tight corners and crevices. It also has the VibraRise® 3.0 Mopping System that lets it do high-speed sonic mopping and the 20mm mop module lift that lets it automatically rise when cleaning carpets. So in the future, if you do go to space, you can take it along with you.

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The Nothing Robot Vacuum (1) brings transparent tech to Smart Homes, along with a Glyph Interface

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If you think just about the Nothing.tech company ethos of bringing fun back to tech while still being design-driven and meaningful, that ethos can apply to pretty much any category of product. Sure, Nothing’s best known for their earbuds, phones, and even other accessories like the CMF Watch Pro… so here’s a proposition – what if we took Nothing’s ethos and brought it to other products that are a bit of a visual afterthought? The robot vacuum, for instance, is a fairly ‘boring’ looking product. Its job is literally to scuttle around the house cleaning up after your mess, so for the most part, its design is driven by function rather than expression. However, by bringing the robot vacuum under the Nothing design umbrella, Soo Hyun Lim and PDF HAUS have uplifted an otherwise dull-looking appliance into something that inherently feels more modern – because it borrows its design cues directly from Nothing’s modern-looking smartphones.

Designers: Soo Hyun Lim & PDF HAUS

Meet the Nothing Robot Vacuum (1), a tongue-in-cheek fan-made concept that ports Nothing’s DNA onto a familiar product template. Most robot vacuums are the same shape and size, so how could you possibly make things interesting? Well, LEDs and transparent covers, of course! The Robot Vacuum (1) has a circular profile that’s then outfitted with a transparent D-shaped outer shell, giving it an almost ‘preserved in glass’ kind of look. Sensors are where they belong (on the front as well as on the top), and although you can’t entirely make a robot vacuum transparent, what with all the dust and dirt, Hyun Lim does something clever by bringing the Glyph Interface to the product. What does the interface do? Well, it acts as a progress bar that lets you know how much cleaning’s left. Similarly, Glyph lights on the vacuum’s docking station light up to indicate charging process as well as letting you know the fill-status on the station’s dustbin, so you know when to throw the trash out every week or so.

With the aesthetic appeal of a fancy turntable, the Nothing Robot Vacuum (1) highlights a kind of Bauhaus-meets-Scandinavian minimalism that companies like Bang&Olufsen have come to showcase so well with their products. The vacuum looks classy, not appliance-y, which is quite a win because of how menial its task actually is. I mean, sure some appliances have boring jobs, like thermostats and dehumidifiers, but that’s no reason they should look ‘boring’, right? Well, the Nothing Robot Vacuum (1) rejects that stereotype.

As far as the design goes, the vacuum comes in 3 colors – black, white, and grey. Just from a top view, you instantly recognize the Nothing design template. The Glyph Interface at the 7 o’clock position, the transparent elements along the body, and a radial pattern on the upper half of the circular top that sort of resembles the coils in the wireless charging zone on the smartphones. It’s simple, yet cleverly executed.

Just like with the phones, you’ve got microtextures galore, along with text screen-printed onto the transparent elements like the upper guard (that prevents the sensors on top from being damaged), and the front transparent bumper that helps the robot vacuum easily maneuver into corners. Moreover, Hyun Lim mentions that the vacuum is constructed from recycled plastic and aluminum, which seems like a nice sustainability touch that goes well with the ‘clean’ image of the vacuum cleaner.

Although conceptual, Hyun Lim does give the robot vacuum a fair bit of detail. You’ve got a rotary broom on the front, along with a vibrating wet mop that helps get grease, grime, and other stains off your floor. The simple design is complemented by a simple UX – you can lift the lid to access the robot’s power button or open its water reservoir to replenish it between cleaning sessions. The sensors on the front and top help the vacuum navigate through the house, while an app on the phone gives you all the controls you need to set schedules, paths, no-go zones, and charging times. Plus, when the robot vacuum runs low on juice, it automatically goes and docks in its station, where the battery gets charged and the dust-tank gets cleaned.

The docking station is just as minimal as the vacuum itself, and serves as a place where your appliance goes to take a pit-stop. Once docked, the Robot Vacuum (1) charges its batteries, while performing a self-clean operation so it’s good to go for round 2. This means the mop head gets cleaned with water, and the dust/dirt tank gets disposed into the docking station’s larger ‘dustbin’. When the dustbin gets filled (after a couple of days of cleaning), all you need to do is empty the trash bag inside and replace it with a new one. That’s where the docking station’s Glyph lights come handy, letting you know your vacuum’s charging rate, along with the dustbin’s current capacity.

Although the Robot Vacuum (1) is purely conceptual at this point, it does prove that Nothing’s approach to redefining technology as ‘accessible fun’ is quite a winning and versatile one. The Robot Vacuum (1) doesn’t exist but there’s no reason it shouldn’t. Carl, you listening?

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Rectangular robot vacuum concept proposes a more efficient design for smaller spaces

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Robot vacuum cleaners and mops are common sights these days, but despite all the advancements they’ve made in terms of technology, their basic shape has remained unchanged since the first-ever Roomba. They’re almost all circular, though the are some that have taken on rounded square forms, a shape that was dictated by the limitations of old technologies that don’t seem to be relevant today. This standard design, however, still carries over other limitations, like squeezing into tight spaces or cleaning corners. Perhaps it’s time to rethink that old and outdated design, which is what this concept tries to do in order to cater to homes with smaller, cramped spaces and messy floors.

Designer: Subin Kim

The initial design of robot vacuums was made primarily for the robot and not the humans. The circular shape made it easier for the machine to turn and correct its direction, something that was all too common given the very basic technologies from decades past. Today, however, most robot cleaners have no problem navigating the most cluttered floors, so there’s now an opportunity to rethink that basic shape.

mini is a concept design that stretches the robot vacuum into a more rectangular form, technically more pill-shaped with its rounded sides. The idea is that this robot can better squeeze itself into narrow spaces, like those between walls and furniture, or hug edges to properly brush and vacuum areas that even the most sophisticated circular robot can’t reach. In small apartments or tiny homes, that is more often the case, so such a design is more useful than the majority of round or square robots.

The design can actually be even more efficient than standard robot vacuums because it can change its orientation depending on the area of the floor to be cleaned. In its vertical mode, it can easily clean out narrow gaps, but then it can rotate and switch to horizontal mode if there’s a wider space available for it to move. Such a feat would require AI and advanced sensors, both of which are readily available on most robot cleaners today.

mini’s design does mean it won’t be able to turn quickly, but that can be handled by better obstacle detection and smarter navigation. Although it might not work perfectly in practice, the concept does challenge the status quo and encourages a design that really puts the user at the center, rather than simply turning such robot helpers into technological showcases.

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Narwal Freo Z Ultra Review: AI for Clean and Stress-free Homes

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PROS:


  • Sleek and minimalist design that blends seamlessly into any home environment

  • Powerful features for thorough and hygienic cleaning

  • Privacy-respecting AI that knows what to clean and how to clean it well

CONS:


  • Auto Water Exchange System is a separate purchase

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

The Narwal Freo Z Ultra makes AI relatable and useful, keeping your home clean and hygienic while also adding a touch of elegance to any space with its stylish design.

AI, machine learning, neural networks, and large language models are buzzwords not just in the tech industry but in mainstream media as well. Almost anything that has a tiny computer inside or connects to the Internet boasts of some AI feature, but most of them just talk about how powerful their product is for being able to do AI. Like any other technology, AI is supposed to help make our lives easier, not burden our brains with a litany of features to remember. At IFA 2924, Narwal unveiled the Freo Z Ultra robot cleaner to show how to do AI right, and we were able to get a first-hand preview of how it utilizes this powerful technology to keep our homes clean, our families healthy, and even our pets happy.

Designer: Narwal

Aesthetics

Robot vacuum cleaners are nothing new; they are one of the first robots and automation to enter our homes. Over the years, the basic form of these circular machines has changed little, which means they have kept close to their utilitarian aesthetic which stands out too much in most homes today. Even the base stations, which are evolving in complexity, often look like oversized and uninspiring trash bins. Fortunately, Narwal applied not only artificial intelligence but also human intelligence to give the Freo Z Ultra a more human appeal.

The Narwal Freo Z Ultra is designed to blend seamlessly into your home, a part of it that doesn’t get in your way, both literally and figuratively. It doesn’t call attention in the way that something unappealing would, like a tool out of place, but only by its sleek and elegant appearance that makes you appreciate its presence in a positive way. The smooth curves, minimalist style, and premium-looking materials make the robot vacuum cleaner and its base station look like functional design objects instead of just appliances.

Admittedly, the robot cleaner itself doesn’t deviate too much from the standard formula. It is a circular machine with very few standout details, and that’s a good thing. It allows the robot to move around without being distracting, showing only the bare minimum that informs people of its functions or state. And thanks to its intelligent navigation system, you don’t even have to worry about bumping into it or getting in its way, as it will be the one to move out of your way as it should be.

All in all, the Freo Z Ultra combines simplicity and style in a single package, adding to a home’s aesthetic instead of distracting from it. It makes the AI-powered robot cleaning system look and feel more like a part of your home, rather than something tacked on and out of place. It might even become part of the family, in its own helpful and cute way.

Ergonomics

Unlike devices that you operate by hand, you don’t really handle the Freo Z Ultra robot cleaner, which is definitely for the best. The reason you’d delegate this chore to a robot would be to avoid dealing with dirt and germs, so the less that you have to manually interact with the cleaning robot, the better. Fortunately, Narwal made sure to minimize those moments as much as possible, leading not only to a convenient mode of operation but to a hygienic one as well.

You don’t have to manually empty the robot’s dust bin. You don’t even have to wash the dirty mop. The only time you have to do some work is to empty the dust bag and replace the dirty water with a clean one, and even then you are guaranteed a sanitized environment thanks to the Freo Z Ultra’s smart features that we’ll get to later. Using these functions is definitely a walk in the park, as Narwal has made the design intuitive and easy to use.

Controlling the robot is a matter of setting it up in the mobile app and just letting it do its thing on its own. You don’t even have to lift a finger, literally, thanks to integration with smart home systems and assistants, which means voice control and automated scenarios. Yes, it sounds lazy, but the convenience means you get more time for yourself and your loved ones.

Performance

Smart robot cleaners are becoming the norm these days, but the Narwal Freo Z Ultra definitely pushes the envelope of what you can do with all that intelligence. Most implementations focus on AI-assisted navigation and obstacle avoidance, and of course, we see that here as well. More importantly, however, Narwal’s AI not only identifies what lies before the robot but also what to do about it, even if it means going back to it again and again.

This is the case with the Freo Z Ultra’s Next-gen Proactive AI DirtSense, which means it knows that the thing in front of it is some kind of dirt and can actually identify what kind of dirt it is. If it’s dry dirt, it sucks it up, but if it’s a wet spill or stain, it mops it up. It also detects how much more mopping is needed and returns to the spot after the mop has been cleaned at the base station. It intelligently understands in real-time if a certain section of the floor requires more thorough cleaning than other spots instead of just applying the same amount of vacuuming or mopping, which tends to spread the dirt around instead. In that sense, it’s almost human in the way it thinks and behaves, closely mimicking how we would approach such a problem as well.

Just as with dirt, The Freo Z Ultra is able to correctly identify the type of floor and carpet so that it can automatically adjust its settings without you having to tell it. For carpets, it can lift the mop to a height of 12mm to avoid staining the material, and it also maximizes the suction power up to 12,000 Pa for more thorough cleaning. For wooden floors, it applies only 7N of mopping pressure to protect the sensitive material, but ceramic tiles get 12N of pressure to better clean off dirt and stains.

And yes, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra has some pretty impressive obstacle avoidance skills, thanks to dual RGB cameras that let it see better, as well as not one but two processors, one dedicated solely to AI. This TwinAI Dodge Obstacle Avoidance system can recognize over 120 objects in the house and see the world like we humans do, in three dimensions. This helps the robot not only navigate spaces and avoid objects but even understand what it needs to actually do in order to clean that space.

This feature is especially important to households with pets, where the presence of a robot cleaner could wake up a sleeping pet or cause unnecessary stress. The Freo Z Ultra knows when it approaches a pet and avoids the area, but it also knows that it needs to return to the area again and again until our furry friend is awake and away. It then uses that same intelligence to determine how much it needs to clean your pet’s favorite spot to make sure it’s spotless and hygienic for your smaller family members.

The Freo Z Ultra’s intelligence extends to the way it cleans up after it cleans your floors. The base station doesn’t just empty the dust bin and wash the mops but makes sure both are clean and hygienic as well. It washes the mop at a warm 45°C for normal dust-based or powdery stains but ramps up the temp to 60°C for oil-based dirt like grease and sauce. It then heats things up even further at 75°C to really kill the bacteria, after which it dries the mop at only 40°C to make sure it won’t get damaged. It also applies hot air dust drying at 45°C to kill the bacteria inside the bin.

The Narwal Freo Z Ultra is overflowing with smart features on top of standard ones like an anti-tangling brush and Reuleaux triangular scrubbing mops that really get to those edges and corners. The best part about the smart robot cleaner is that you don’t actually have to mind any of these, as it’s smart enough to do the right thing at the right time, freeing you from worry and stress and giving even your pet some peace of mind.

Sustainability

Even though robot vacuum cleaners have been around for decades, some things haven’t changed that much, like the heavy use of plastics and non-sustainable materials. There might come a day when giants in this industry like Narwal start using more eco-friendly materials, but for now, it is tackling the problem from a different angle. In a way, the Freo Z Ultra uses its AI-powered features not only to preserve the longevity of the product but to also be more energy efficient in the long run.

Knowing when to clean is only one part of conserving energy and saving on your electricity bill. Knowing how to properly clean an area and itself can also contribute to this energy-saving strategy. Rather than applying the same pressure or suction power or heat uniformly across all instances, adjusting the settings lower or higher as needed is ultimately smarter and more efficient. The way it also takes care of itself ensures that the Freo Z Ultra will be your cleaning companion for a very long time, saving you money and reducing unnecessary e-waste over time.

Value

There’s no doubt that the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is one of if not the smartest robot cleaners to date. That makes it an amazing piece of technology, but does it really add value to your life? With the many things that burden our minds and take up our time, the last thing we often want to do is deal with chores like cleaning the floor. And while there are definitely lessons to be learned in such labor, there are also better uses of our limited time as well.

In the end, that’s what this smart AI-powered cleaning robot delivers, not just clean floors but also peace of mind and freedom from stress and worry. We don’t have to fuss over whether the little robot does its job well because we know it does. It’s not yet perfect but learns and improves along the way, much like us. The Freo Z Ultra offers a clean, safe, and hygienic environment while also freeing us to spend more time with the more important things in life. You can’t get any better value than that!

Verdict

There are many robot vacuums that boast AI-powered smarts, but most of them simply means they know their way around your home. The Narwal Freo Z Ultra puts all that computing power to work in teaching the robot how it needs to clean as well. From identifying the kind of dirt and applying the right way to clean it, to waiting for your pet to get up and then clean its spot thoroughly, the Freo Z Ultra frees you from having to worry about such minute details and focus instead on more enjoyable activities. Best of all, it looks stylish and elegant in your home as well, almost like having a designer object doing your chores for you.

The post Narwal Freo Z Ultra Review: AI for Clean and Stress-free Homes first appeared on Yanko Design.

AI-powered robot vacuum concept brings both brains and heart to your cleaning chores

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A lot of people like me leave the house early in the morning and return late at night just to rest and sleep. I rarely have time and energy to actually clean the house thoroughly. But of course you need to make time to get rid of dust or else your health and your peace of mind will be affected. Robot vacuums are the best friends of those who need a bit of clean up without exerting much energy and we’re seeing a lot of options and concepts for this kind of cleaning tool.

Designer: Raye

Hestia is a concept for one such tool, named after the Greek goddess of the hearth and the home because it protects your home from germs and dust. It is basically a robot vacuum cleaner but it uses AI technology to make the cleaning process easier and more convenient. The AI, together with the ultrasonic sensors located on both sides, helps the cleaner set a path to clean your home and also avoid obstacles (probably as long as you don’t leave random things lying around your floor). It has two rear wheels that can give it a good “kick” while the front wheels lets it go forward and sideways.

The vacuum itself looks like a small, flat robot with a small head on top. It has an external display that shows off the “emotion” of the robot with its camera and lidor sensor while the Demeter CPU enables the smart space cleaning feature. The default face is its normal, tranquil mode while the cleaning mode shows off an angry face because of the dirt and dust she needs to clean. When the battery is low, it shows off a weak face. The monitor also displays the battery level and the cleaning process.

The Hestia robot vacuum cleaner uses anodized aluminum and polycarbonate material so you get a more “sophisticated” but clean and minimalist look. The charging station which looks like the robot’s mother ship is able to empty the dustbin so you can just gather all the dirt and dust inside it for disposal later on. It seems like something that will greatly benefit people like me who are too busy (or sometimes lazy) to do regular cleaning.

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eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro with World’s First Floor Washing Function makes cleaning enjoyable

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We all know that keeping the floor clean is important but this seemingly simple activity turns out to be tedious and time-consuming. Robot vacuums have been around for quite some time now to ease that pain, but few are able to go beyond just sucking up dust and small particles. And those that can wipe the floor tend to be inefficient, ineffective, or both. A leader in the smart home market, eufy is presenting its latest design that will keep your floor clean without getting your hands dirty, saving you time and energy to spend on the more important things in life.

Designers: Simon Kim (Senior Design Manager, eufy), Jaewan Jeong (Design Director, eufy)

Click Here to Buy Now: $999 $1499 ($500 off). Hurry, only 207/700 left! Raised over $1,300,000.

It might have “robot vacuum” in its name, but the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro is definitely more than just that. It’s an all-in-one floor-cleaning machine that makes no room for compromises when it comes to getting the door out of your floor space. Its 8,000 Pa suction power makes short work of dust and solid particles on your floors and carpets, but that’s only the beginning. Its real power comes from its revolutionary floor washing system that ensures no dirt or stain is left to mar the beauty of your floor.

100% Clean Under UV Light See the visibly different cleaning results of S1 Pro compared with a normal robot mop.

Spinning at a rate of 170 RPM and exerting a downward force of 10N, this 290mm TurboWash roller mop mimics how a human would scrub a floor to get those stubborn stains out. Unlike other robot vacuums with the bare minimum mopping function, the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro has two separate water tanks in the device itself, separate clean and wastewater to ensure that the mop itself stays clean and doesn’t drag its own dirt across the floor it’s supposed to be cleaning.

Eco-Clean Ozone™ Eliminates 99.99% of Germs. Built-in ozone sanitization for the highest standard of cleanliness.

Once the robot is done with its task, it retreats to the innovative All-in-One Station where it not only charges its batteries but also initiates a completely hands-free cleaning process. It automatically empties the dust bin and disposes of wastewater, cleaning the mop and drying it with hot air to prevent the growth of bacteria and odors, and then refills the robot’s tank with clean water for the next session. It even has a built-in ozone generator that sanitizes not just the mop but also your floor with a sterilization rate of up to 99.99%, creating a safe environment for children and pets even during high-risk seasons. All of these happen without human intervention, and you only need to empty the dustbin after 68 or so days!

Automatically detects carpet edges and lifts the mop to protect the material.

While it already sets itself apart with its revolutionary cleaning features, the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro stands out even more with its groundbreaking design and advanced intelligence. Eschewing the traditional circular form that has dominated this market for decades, the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro adopts a unique square body that is compact, sleek, and modern, adapting to the needs and tastes of today’s sophisticated homeowners. Winner of the iF Design Award 2024 and Good Design Award, the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro delivers a fresh and memorable design that doesn’t compromise on functionality. In fact, it’s thanks to that square shape and low 96mm profile that it can reach within 1cm of walls and corners and glide under low furniture with ease.

Even the All-in-One Station itself is a testament to eufy’s commitment to excellent design. Its minimalist aesthetic and narrow body not only saves space but also enhances the visual atmosphere with its elegant appearance. That simplicity, however, belies intelligent features that bring convenience and comfort to users’ lives. An effortless touchscreen allows the user to directly access features without having to fumble with a smartphone. The transparent water not only lets you easily check water levels at a glance, it also gives the design a modern and hi-tech vibe. Finally, the station’s ergonomic golden height means you won’t have to bend over and strain your back just to open the lid or change the water in the tank.

Despite its compact size, the robot actually packs quite an impressive assortment of technologies, like a 3D MatrixEye™ Depth Perception system that utilizes the same RGB camera with active binocular technology used in self-driving cars for obstacle avoidance. Its TrueCourse Mapping™, powered by a dToF LiDAR, the same LiDAR technology used in NASA’s Landing project, ensures precise mapping of your home, while the powerful eufy mobile app gives you the ability to schedule cleaning times, set no-go zones, and manage multi-floor mapping. Whatever the floor cleaning task, the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro promises a stress-free experience that will leave your floor clean and sanitized so that you and your family can live better, safer, and more enjoyable lives.

Click Here to Buy Now: $999 $1499 ($500 off). Hurry, only 207/700 left! Raised over $1,300,000.

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SwitchBot K10+ Mini Robot Vacuum cleans narrow, hard-to-reach places with ease

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Robot vacuum cleaners are quite the fad these days, offering peace of mind by keeping your floors clean without getting your hands dirty. They come with a wide range of advanced features and a variety of designs, but they all have one thing in common. The majority of robot vacuum cleaners come with very large bodies, often justified by the power they pack inside. Bigger isn’t always better, though, and size can even become a liability rather than an asset when dealing with small, cramped areas or difficult corners. That’s no problem for the world’s smallest robot vacuum cleaner, sneaking into tough corners and narrow paths in order to provide a more efficient cleaning experience in a compact and portable package.

Designer: SwitchBot

Click Here to Buy Now: $399.99 $499.99 (Use coupon code “UP50MRCS” to get $100 off). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

With it’s compact design K10+ can reach smaller spaces to clean better.

The SwitchBot K10+ honestly looks too cute to be true. At only 248mm in diameter and 92mm tall, it’s only half the size of run-of-the-mill robot vacuums and might easily be mistaken for a toy. In fact, you can easily lift it with one hand and carry it upstairs or anywhere, which means you can easily move it to rooms that need cleaning in a snap. Despite that diminutive size, however, the K10+ is no slouch, and it’s exactly thanks to its size that it is able to offer more for less.

K10+ features a design that can blend in with any home, making it even less intrusive.

LiDAR Navigation.
K10+ allows you to achieve AI level precise mapping and quickly plan cleaning range at a speed of 2080 pts/sec.

K10+ returns to its base station for charging when battery is low, and returns to the last place it cleaned to finish up.

With its smaller diameter, the SwitchBot K10+ can easily navigate narrower spaces without breaking a sweat, deftly reaching the floor between the wall and a closet, underneath the couch, or in between the legs of a side table. Because it’s able to clean areas that most robot vacuums steer clear of, it offers 90% more coverage and significantly increases its cleaning efficiency. Of course, it’s not enough to simply be able to roll where no robot vacuum cleaner has gone before, and this little wonder surprisingly packs quite the assortment of cleaning features that puts it on par with its larger rivals.

Use the app to control the K10+

You might be surprised that the smallest robot vac actually boasts a suction power of 2500Pa, which means that even kitty litter and small pieces of food are no match for this wonder of technology. Even with that much action going on, it is able to keep quiet while it does its job, down to 50dB or 50% quieter than the industry average. It can also mop the floors after it has sucked them clean, and the disposable cleaning pads free you from the hassles and risks of dealing with dirty mops after each cleaning session. Best of all, the large 4-liter dustbin can collect dirt for up to 70 days before you need to take out the trash.

The SwitchBot K10+ is also equipped with plenty of smarts, from SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) self-navigation to obstacle and no-clean zone detection to scheduling cleaning sessions. It can also integrated with smart home platforms, including Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple Siri, and even IFTTT for hands-free voice control. With the SwitchBot K10+, you never have to worry about missing those hidden corners and spots ever again and dedicate more of your time to the more important things in life.

Click Here to Buy Now: $399.99 $499.99 (Use coupon code “UP50MRCS” to get $100 off). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

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SwitchBot’s ‘Mini’ K10+ Robot Vacuum Navigates Tight Spaces Your Roomba Can’t Reach

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It’s expected that with time, all technology gets more powerful, but also gets more compact. If you compare the phone we have today to the clunky Nokia mobiles of the 1990s, there’s a massive difference in their size and capabilities. Laptops, cameras, televisions have all become slimmer/sleeker with time… and now so has the robot vacuum. Compared to the average vacuum still available today, SwitchBot’s K10+ is palpably smaller in size. However, while most technology grows slim purely for visual aesthetics, the K10+’s miniature size is actually a design feature. Measuring merely 9.7 inches in diameter (24.8 centimeters), the K10+ easily fits into tight spaces where most conventional robot vacuums struggle. It weaves through the legs of stools and side tables, gets into tight gaps between the sofa and the wall, and even weaves through your dining table, cleaning between the table legs, chairs, etc. Touted as the smallest robot vacuum cleaner with an external dustbin, the K10+ is 50% smaller than a conventional vacuum, and 90% more efficient too, because of its ability to clean more parts of your home.

Designer: SwitchBot

Click Here to Buy Now: $399.99 $499.99 (20% off). Hurry, deal ends in 48 hours!

With it’s compact design K10+ can reach smaller spaces to clean better.

Feature for feature, the K10+ matches up to every flagship robot vacuum, with high suction, wet and dry cleaning, smart features, auto navigation, no-go zones, quiet motor, and a 4L dustbin that also doubles as the K10+ charging station. However, its less-than-10-inch diameter and 3.6-inch vertical make it perfect for navigating every nook and cranny in your home. The robot comes equipped with a vacuum capable of 2500Pa, but is practically inaudible thanks to SwitchBot’s SilenTech technology that cuts noise by 50% to a manageable 48 decibels, making the K10+’s operating noise much lower than conventional vacuums. That means more cleaning, less disturbance, and a lower chance of the vacuum driving your pet dog crazy.

K10+ features a design that can blend in with any home, making it even less intrusive.

LiDAR Navigation.
K10+ allows you to achieve AI level precise mapping and quickly plan cleaning range at a speed of 2080 pts/sec.

K10+ returns to its base station for charging when battery is low, and returns to the last place it cleaned to finish up.

Deploy your K10+ and it effectively maps out and navigates your house, cleaning parts that would often get neglected by other robot vacuums. The rotating brushes push dirt, dust, and food particles towards the suction head, which promptly vacuums it right into the K10+’s built-in dust tank. The K10+ wet-mops too, thanks to a disposable ‘Cleaning Pad’ that plugs to the base of the vacuum, and can be removed and discarded after use like a wet-wipe for your floor. The dust within the K10+, however, gets automatically disposed in its dedicated garbage collection base. The base, which also charges your K10+, collects all the dust and dirt vacuumed by the robot in its large receptacle. With an overall 4-liter capacity, you have to clean out the base less often, freeing up your time so that the robot does the chores… not you.

Use the app to control the K10+

Setting a cleanup routine on the K10 is as easy as either using SwitchBot’s app or giving a voice command to your smart home AI. The K10+ is compatible with Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts, Samsung SmartThings, and IFTTT, while the smartphone app gives you access to even more features like being able to set specific cleaning areas, program no-go zones, etc.

The ‘world’s smallest vacuum’ comes with a petite price tag to match, starting at $499 (with a special coupon that brings the price down to $399.99 on Amazon). Its small design might fool you, but it’s equally powerful as your current robot vacuum while being more nimble and efficient, allowing it to reach those inaccessible parts of your home too. Moreover, it weighs 5 lbs (2.3 kilograms), allowing you to carry it up and down the stairs too, for multi-level cleanliness!

Click Here to Buy Now: $399.99 $499.99 (20% off). Hurry, deal ends in 48 hours!

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