One of the “perks” of a robot vacuum is that you can pretty much set it up at any corner of your choosing as long there is an outlet. But there is an upcoming robot vacuum that does not offer that kind of freedom of placement as far as the dock goes and it is for good reasons – particularly if you want to avoid foul associated with mopping capable vac bots and also to achieve true hands-free operations.
Meet SwitchBot S10, the world’s first plumbing-connected robot vacuum that is capable of refilling and draining itself, thus achieving true hands-free operations. And yes, SwitchBot is the same folks behind the curtain and blind bot. The downside of this system is has not one but two stations: an auto-empty station and a water station. The latter will need to be near a water supply and drainage system, and also obviously, some plumbing works will be required as part of the installation process.
Plumbing, however small, isn’t my forte but SwitchBot claims that it can be done in “just 3 steps” and “as long as you have a dishwasher or washing machine at home”. Anyhoo, if you own a robot vacuum with a mopping function, you’d probably experience a foul smell from the dirty water tank. S10 here aims to eliminate this through its auto-refill and draining system. It further boasts a self-cleaning roller mop which can dry itself without the need for a cleaning tray.
Key features of the vac bot include 6,500 Pa suction power, anti-tangle rubber brush, voice control, LiDAR navigation, AI obstacle avoidance, integrated mopping function with 10N of mop downforce, retractable mop roller (for when going over the rug e.g.), 300 r/min self-cleaning speed, 4,000 mAh battery good for up to 140 minutes of operation or 120 m2/1,290 square feet.
The water station meanwhile is where S10 will get to top up with clean water, drain the wastewater, and refill the cleaning solution (which is synced with clean water refill). The water station is equipped with backwash filtration. The Auto-empty station, on the other hand, is just like most hands-free robot vacuum docks. It charges the S10, auto emptying of the bot’s dust bag, and dries the bot’s roller mop. It has a 4L dust-bag capacity, and further features dust-bag full detection and dust collection duct blockage detection.
The SwitchBot S10 Robot Vacuum will retail for US$1,199.99 when it becomes available. Before that, SwitchBot will be taking it to Kickstarter where you can score as much as U$480 off. If you are down, be sure to sign up to be notified when the campaign launches.
Images: SwitchBot.
