SwitchBot has a brand new robotic vacuum mop that hooks into your plumbing

Good residence robotics firm SwitchBot — of robotic finger fame — has give you one other ingenious answer for automating boring chores in your house. This one is a large leap towards a Rosie the Robotic imaginative and prescient of a totally autonomous robotic home cleaner, although with out the character. The SwitchBot S10 is a brand new robotic vacuum and mop that autonomously drains and refills its soiled and clear water tanks utilizing a battery-powered water station that hooks instantly into your plumbing. 

Mixed with an auto-empty charging dock that dries the mop, the S10 is probably the most totally automated ground cleaner I’ve seen. You received’t must refill its mopping tank, cope with emptying soiled water post-clean, or mess with its mops. The one soiled work it’s essential to do is empty its mud bag after about 70 days (based on the corporate). In any other case, it ought to trundle round your house, mopping and sweeping till the cows come residence.

The but to be priced S10 is launching subsequent week at IFA and is slated for launch on Kickstarter in October. It will possibly use its plumbing tips to autonomously refill a brand new humidifier the corporate can also be debuting on the Berlin tech commerce present. And SwitchBot has plans to introduce a dehumidifier that the S10 may empty.

Sean Tan, SwitchBot’s PR supervisor, gave me an unique preview of the S10 forward of IFA, and whereas the product remains to be in growth, he confirmed me a working prototype of what the corporate claims is an industry-first auto-refilling and draining water station system.

A robotic vacuum and mop with an auto-empty charging dock, the S10 comes with a separate compact battery-powered water station that you simply set up in your kitchen (or laundry room or rest room) and connect with your water inlet and drainage pipes.

The S10’s personal battery capabilities as an influence supply for the water station, offering reverse energy to the station when it fills up with water, so that you don’t must plug it in. 

Whereas ingenious, the thought of connecting a robotic mop proper into your plumbing appears fairly apparent now and a significantly better answer than the hulking nice “auto-empty wash, fill, and dry docks” popularized by firms like Roborock. These take up loads of area, look sort of ugly, and require you to lug big gallon-size water jugs from the sink to the robotic on a weekly foundation.

The plumbing idea isn’t fully new. Narwhal has an identical thought for its Freo mannequin, though that requires an open drain in your house, has a extra sophisticated set up, and doesn’t embrace an auto-empty bin.

What actually intrigues me about this product is that it’s a multitasking residence robotic. Utilizing the robotic’s now limitless provide of water and its sizable onboard battery to refill different family home equipment is a intelligent utilization of these assets. Possibly sooner or later, it may even water your crops and refill the canine’s water bowl. Maybe you may pop your smartphone on it for a fast power-up.

Tan confirmed me a video demo of the set up, and it seems to be barely extra concerned than putting in a bidet bathroom seat however not sophisticated sufficient to require a plumber. The corporate plans to supply an exterior tank answer if you happen to don’t have a technique to hook it into your plumbing instantly.

As a vacuum mop, the SwitchBot S10 resembles lots of the top-of-the-line bots from the likes of Roborock, Ecovacs, and others. Whereas official specs and pricing received’t be launched till subsequent week at IFA, Tan says the S10 may have all the usual options of a high-end robotic vac: highly effective suction, lengthy runtime, lidar mapping, digital no-go zones, room-specific cleansing, AI-powered impediment avoidance, and self-cleaning capabilities.

Apparently, its roller-style mopping system differs from what different mopping robots use (past that it hooks into your plumbing). Tan says water sprays onto the rolling mop because it’s cleansing, cleansing each your ground and the mop on the identical time. When the robotic detects carpet, the mop retracts into the robotic, and the water stops spraying. When the robotic returns to the charging dock, the mop will get a fast blow-dry. You don’t must take away it or wash it manually, as most different robotic mops require.

Whereas there’s no pricing but, with these specs and the distinctive water function, plus SwitchBot’s popularity for lower-priced merchandise, I’d anticipate a value level of over $1,000. Most of the S10’s high-end rivals price upward of $1,500.

SwitchBot may have the S10 on present at IFA, which runs from September 1st via September fifth. The Verge shall be on the bottom in Berlin, so we’ll get some hands-on time with the system and report again with extra particulars.

Alongside the S10, SwitchBot can also be bringing the ridiculously cute K10 Plus robotic vacuum to the US. (It launched on a crowdfunding platform in Japan earlier this 12 months.) The signature function of that is its measurement: at solely 3.6 inches excessive and 9.8 inches large, it’s maybe the smallest robotic vacuum you’ll have the ability to purchase. Its auto-empty station is equally small, making it a great choice for small flats or bedrooms.

The K10 Plus has a max 2,500pa suction energy and 150-minute runtime and shall be out there on Amazon and Swap-Bot.com in November. No US pricing is obtainable, nevertheless it’s listed at 68,880 yen (about $470) in Japan.