Roborock’s stair climbing robot vac concept has legs (literally)

Roborock is demoing a first-of-its-kind device at CES 2026.  

Every now and then, the robot vacuum world is rocked by the possibility of a model that can climb stairs. At IFA last summer, Eufy unveiled the MarsWalker (a stair assistant for its robots), Dreame showed the CyberX (a similar stair climbing accessory) and Mova displayed the Zeus 60 (a kind of mini robot vac elevator).

All these designs functioned as a climbing exoskeleton in one form or another that existing robots can drive into and be carried up a staircase.

But at CES 2026, Roborock is exhibiting a robot vacuum that can actually climb stairs all by itself.

And it’s a genuinely unique design. Roborock is only making the slightly weirdly-worded (but presumably legally watertight) claim that it’s the “the world’s first two-wheel-leg architecture in a robovac”. But I haven’t seen anything like it in the world of cleaning bots. The Saros Rover has a squared-off body, which stands on two jointed legs, each finishing with a wheel.

The legs can lift and lower independently and the robot can stop, turn quickly and even manage small jumps – and all while keeping its body level. All of this should give it an unprecedented level of agility and mobility. Back in December, Roborock showed a group of us journalists a video of the Rover in a lab, being pelted by tennis balls and impressively retaining its balance.

It uses AI algorithms in conjunction with motion sensors and 3d spatial information to make decisions about navigating its environment.

Another thing that distinguishes the Saros Rover from the competition is that it can clean while climbing the stairs. Most rivals are focused merely on getting the machine up to the next floor. They’re pretty massive, slow and clunky and they won’t be giving anything a vac en route.

Roborock says that the Saros can navigate and clean straight, curved and carpeted staircases, as well as slopes and rooms with multi-level thresholds.

At this stage, however, much of this is theoretical. The Saros Rover is shown as a concept model, with no launch date announced. Still, none of the rivals that were shown at IFA are yet on sale, although the Eufy Marswalker and Dreame CyberX are slated for release early in 2026. Both models will only work with designated robot vacuums from the same brands, and no prices have yet been made public.

Check out the best of the new tech that’s on show in Tech Advisor’s CES 2026 hub.