Roborock has just announced a robot vacuum with a literal arm for moving your mess

CES brings about the epic and the ridiculous of consumer electronics, but I think this one could fall into the "epic" camp.

Roborock has announced its next generation of robot vacuum cleaners. At the forefront is the Saros Z70, which is expected to be available in the first half of 2025. It mostly looks like any other robot vacuum cleaner, with advanced navigation, vacuuming, and mopping capabilities.

Where it differs from the rest of the robot market world is the five axis robotic arm that folds out of its head, which uses the vacuum's AI smarts and cameras to literally pick up the stuff you left lying on the floor so it can better clean.

According to the Roborock announcement, it can detect and pick up "socks, small towels, tissue papers, and sandals under 300g".

It's not exactly clear what it does with these objects once it has picked them up – does it just drop them out of the way? Or move them to a corner of the room for you to clean up later? Though I expect we'll find out more once CES has kicked off properly.

In addition to the Saros Z70, Roborock has also announced the Saros Z10, which offers a retractable LDS navigation module, so the vacuum can pass under furniture more easily without sacrificing its 100-degree field of view.

The Saros Z10R, meanwhile, uses dual-light 3D Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors and an RGB camera powered by AI to map your home and avoid obstacles, instead of the traditional Laser Distance Sensor (LDS).

Finally, Roborock has also announced the F25 series of wet/dry vacuums, which promise both anti-tangle and streak free cleaning, in a body capable of lying flat.

Pricing and availability

We're going to have to wait to see and hear how much these are all going to cost, as well as when they will make their way to Australia. Hopefully we should have details by the middle of the year.