We’ve spent hours watching robot socks pick up the vacuum cleaner. It’s a dream come true

Imagine a robotic vacuum cleaner. Now imagine a mechanical arm extending in front to pick up a sock that someone has taken off and thrown on the floor. Now imagine that same robotic vacuum cleaner picks up a bunch of discarded items and neatly arranges them while cleaning the floor. This is the Roborock Saros Z70, a new robot vacuum that we spent hours creating (clean!) socks to show off an innovative feature in the world of mechanical cleaning. It’s the first. This is a dream come true.

In a hotel room in Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show 2025And even before that, at a small demo in New York for reporters, we watched the Roborock Saros Z70 zoom sock after sock, pinching with a mechanical arm. It was so much fun to watch, as we had the robot vacuum clean the same few socks over and over again. If the robots decide to rise up, hopefully they’ll forgive us.

The Roborock Saros Z70 is a mass market first Robot vacuum With a mechanical arm designed to pick up and move larger debris while cleaning. At the preview event held in New York before CES and at the trade show, we noted that the Sarus arm may not always pick up an object on the first try, and that the number of objects it can handle is currently very small. But technology shows the potential to go further than just socks. The five-axis robotic arm, called OmniGrip, can pick up objects weighing up to 300 grams — about 10.5 ounces — and can deposit them in specific areas where you tell it to.

The Saros Z70 isn’t on the market yet, though Roborock told us they expect it to be available sometime in the first half of the year. Pricing is also not yet available, but high-end robotic vacuums routinely cost $1,500 or more. Here’s what we saw in the hours we spent watching this little robot.

A rocky start gave way to an impressive display

Making its first appearance on stage at the Soho House members club in midtown Manhattan before CES, the Roborock Saros Z70 prototype initially refused to come out of its room (who hasn’t suffered from stage fright?), and we’ve confirmed a mechanical malfunction. Treated for retail release.

After a few false starts, the arm was released from its onboard compartment, at which time the slender, circular void approached a crumpled sock, twisting its arm out and down to catch it, just like the infernal claw machine games found in the arcades.

Once it started working, the robot arm picked up several socks. She dropped the pickups occasionally but didn’t give up until she had them in her clutches, then carried each one to a single area on stage designated by a brand representative through a mobile app. A company representative told us that the current version is better at recognizing black socks than white socks.

While the demo was mostly controlled, the final version of the vacuum will seek out and remove debris itself during regular cleaning cycles. During the initial scanning process, the Saros Z70 must perform normal duties but also detect and mark objects it can lift. In theory, you’ll then go back to items like socks, tissues, and small towels to tidy up during a second round of cleaning.

The Saros Z70 can detect up to 108 different obstacles. While the list of things the OmniGrip can actually lift is much smaller, more items will be supported in future software upgrades, according to Roborock’s official release. Those who purchase the first-generation model can expect telematics improvements to the OmniGrip without having to shell out more money.

He already recognizes more than socks

In Las Vegas, we spent more than an hour with the robot picking up socks in a hotel room. One caveat is that the vacuum was following a fairly specific routine — it would walk in a straight line, catch a sock off to the side of its path, then move forward a few feet to drop it into the basket and return, along that straight line to its base. Roborock said this software, designed for demonstration, prevented him from following his usual routine, which might include starting to draw a map of the room. Instead of standing there while the robot vacuum roamed the suite of The Venetian, she kept to a tight schedule.

That doesn’t mean we couldn’t see the machine trying to solve the problem. A company representative told us about the types of items it’s programmed to pick up — socks, small towels, small pieces of paper, and sandals. We threw in a wool beanie, which is basically a sock. The Roborock had no trouble recognizing and picking it up.

It was fascinating to watch the broom figure out how to pick something up. Sometimes he would pass by the sock he was supposed to pick up, and we would all sigh in disappointment because he was about to fail. But then he turns, looks behind him, and successfully picks up the sock.

Not every round was a success. Sometimes he would try to grab something and it would slip out of his grasp. Other times, he seemed to rebel against being a trade show prototype, spontaneously deciding to start mapping the room.

Robot vacuum with more to learn

While the list of things the vacuum can recognize is relatively small, Roborock plans to add more as it develops the software intelligence to do so. Future updates may include the ability to pick up cat toys or shoes and place them where they’re supposed to go. The smarter you get with the mechanical arm, the more you can envision a robot vacuum cleaner that can really clean your messy, dirty floor with very little setup.

Your child or cat should not touch it by accident

If you’re worried about your arm getting caught by an innocent cat or a strand of a toddler’s hair, Roborock says the arm’s grip isn’t strong enough to cause any damage. Just in case, the vacuum includes a child lock and safety stop button, allowing for immediate shutdown in any scenario.

There are also pet-friendly features that allow you to check on your animals, take shots, and schedule cruises on demand. The vacuum moves to the side when approaching pets to avoid scaring them.

Identify new advanced organisms

While the grasping arm gets most of the glory, none of its performance would be possible without tiny sensors, a camera and an LED light mounted on the robot’s slim frame, all controlled by Roborock’s next-generation StarSight navigation and object recognition system. .

“Instead of using a traditional LDS (lidar) tower unit for navigation, the system integrates next-generation dual-illuminated 3D time-of-flight sensors and AI-powered RGB cameras to determine its location, its surroundings, and whether the object it is holding is present,” Roborock said in a statement. “Weight gain.”

Regardless of the arm, this is shaping up to be a top-notch robot vacuum

In addition to its flashy new accessory, the Roborock Saros Z70 has the basics of a robovac. It has a suction power of 22,000Pa, combined with a dual anti-tangle system, which spreads itself to prevent hair from tangling around the vacuum. The machine’s dual-spin mops can lift up to 2.2cm (just under one inch), allowing for increased air circulation, faster drying and preventing the vacuum from pulling dirt across clean surfaces. All this comes inside one of the slimmest robot vacuums on the market at just 7.98 cm (3.14 inches) high.