This robovac has an arm — and legs, too

I’ll see your arm and raise you an arm and two legs. It was the battle of the bots on the CES show floor as robot vacuum manufacturers Dreame and Roborock each added limbs to their rival robovacs.

Dreame launched its X50 Ultra at the show earlier this week, debuting the first robovac that can use its legs to navigate steps and room transitions up to 6cm high. But elsewhere at the show, competitor Roborock was showing off its latest flagship, the Saros Z70, which has an arm that can pick up items like socks.

Not to be outdone, Dreame then showed off a soon-to-be-released model at its CES booth, combining those two step-climbing legs with a robotic arm of its own.

Dreame’s model has a chunkier-looking arm than Roborock’s, and it says it can pick up items up to 500 grams, whereas Roborock’s can only tackle items up to 300 grams. Dreame says its arm can pick up sneakers as large as men’s size 42 (a size 9 in the US) and take them to a designated spot in your home. The concept could apply to small toys and other items, and you’ll be able to designate specific areas for the robot to take certain items, such as toys to the playroom and shoes to the front door.

However, I didn’t see the robot pick up a sneaker — or anything at all. Apparently, the infamous CES show floor Wi-Fi couldn’t hack it. Instead, the team showed the robust-looking arm move up, down, and around while the robot lifted itself up on its two small legs. It looked like a tiny horse.

Another interesting invention is a separate toolbox with various brushes that Dreame says the arm can connect to, enabling it to reach into corners and tight spaces where the bot itself can’t go and sweep out the dirt and dust. The bot also had a new base station that dispenses multiple mopping pads. This allows the robot to choose different pads for different jobs around your home — one for the kitchen, another for the bathroom — to help avoid cross-contamination around your home.

Dreame’s Longdong Chen told The Verge that the step-climbing, tool-using, arm-touting bot should be available later this year. A price hasn’t been announced, but it’s a safe bet that it’ll cost an arm and a leg.