Roborock’s Saros Z70 demonstrated a step beyond avoiding clutter at IFA 2026: the robot vacuum used its OmniGrip arm to pick up a sock from the floor and place it in a designated container. The demonstration showed how the system could clear lightweight obstacles before continuing its cleaning task.
OmniGrip is a five-axis mechanical arm that retracts fully beneath the robot’s top cover when it is not in use. Its built-in weight sensor limits lifting to objects of up to 300 grams, placing socks, tissues, cloths and lightweight footwear among the intended items it can handle.
The Saros Z70 has already been tested in home settings with socks, slippers and other objects, illustrating both the potential and the early limitations of robotic manipulation in a consumer vacuum. At the Berlin demonstration, the arm positioned itself over the sock, gripped it and transported it to the container with precision.
Roborock also brought back the Saros Rover concept at IFA 2026 alongside the new Saros 20 generation. The prototype uses two articulated “legs” intended to help it tackle stairs, but remains a technology demonstration rather than a confirmed retail product.
The 300-gram limit keeps OmniGrip focused on small household clutter for now. Whether later versions can reliably deal with a broader range of objects, such as toys or remote controls, remains an important question as robot vacuums move toward more capable home robotics.
