iRobot has unveiled the Roomba Duo, a concept robot vacuum shown at the IFA tech show in Berlin, which pairs a heavy-duty floor-washing unit with a smaller, slimmer Roomba that lowers itself to clean tight spots such as under tables or in corners. The device marks a significant departure for the consumer robot vacuum pioneer, blending capabilities more typically seen in commercial cleaning robots used in hotels and shopping centres, and comes as iRobot pushes to reinvent itself under new ownership after emerging from bankruptcy.

The main unit uses lidar and camera navigation, carries clean and dirty water tanks plus a dust bag, and can steam-mop with 46 newtons of downward pressure, while the smaller Roomba Plus 757 is deployed via a mechanical arm to reach areas the larger machine cannot. iRobot's Adam Pope described it as the company's most powerful vacuum yet, and new CEO Hao Li, who joined from parent company Picea, presented the device as proof that "the future of floor care has a familiar name." As a concept, the Duo has no price or release date, remains closely guarded by Picea engineers, and its final specifications are still being developed based on feedback.