iRobot's Roomba Duo sends a tiny robot under your sofa — via mechanical arm

By: Anton Kratiuk | today, 13:06

iRobot unveiled the Roomba Duo at IFA 2026 in Berlin — a two-robot system where the main unit physically carries and deploys a smaller companion robot using a mechanical arm. It's the first time a consumer robot vacuum has used this kind of carrier approach, and it's designed to solve a problem anyone with a low sofa or cluttered kitchen knows well: no single robot can do heavy scrubbing and squeeze into tight spaces.

The idea

The main robot is a large cylindrical unit built for raw cleaning power. It presses a roller mop — the PowerSpin Max — against the floor at 4.7 kg of force, adds steam to loosen dried-on grime, and carries separate tanks for clean and dirty water. When it hits a spot it can't physically reach, its mechanical arm lowers the companion robot to the floor.

That companion unit is just 8.35 cm tall and 29.8 cm wide. It slips under furniture, extends a PerfectEdge mop pad 31 mm outward to clean along walls, and can climb thresholds up to 3.5 cm high on air-lift omni-wheels. Once it's done, it climbs back onto the main robot.

Both units share LiDAR ClearView Pro sensors and PrecisionVision AI for obstacle recognition and 3D room mapping. A single AutoWash dock handles both — automatically refilling water, draining dirty water, washing mop pads with hot air, and emptying the dust bin.

The catch

The Roomba Duo is a working prototype, not a product you can buy. iRobot's press release confirms no price or release date. For reference, the Roomba Plus 575 starts at $699.99 in the US; Tom's Guide estimates the Duo could land above $1,400 when — or if — it ships. There are no pre-order listings at Best Buy, Amazon, Currys, or John Lewis.

At the same IFA show, rivals Narwal and Samsung displayed competing models that are already on sale. iRobot's mechanical arm approach is genuinely different, but battery life, dock footprint, and a firm ship date remain undisclosed. The Duo is a strong concept — whether it becomes a real product is still an open question.