Your robot vacuum’s awkward relationship with stairs is about to end. Roborock unveiled the Saros Rover at CES 2026, introducing the world’s first robot vacuum with AI-powered wheel-leg architecture that actually cleans stairs while climbing them. Those “no-go zone” stickers marking your home’s vertical boundaries might finally become obsolete.
Walking the Walk
Two deployable wheel-legs enable independent movement across multi-level terrain with precision balance.
The Rover deploys two wheel-legs that extend independently for reach, lift, and height adjustments. Picture a determined R2-D2 tackling your carpeted staircase—the robot lifts its body to each step level, rolls forward while maintaining balance, then folds its legs to continue cleaning.
Demos showed the device navigating curved staircases, jumping small obstacles, and maintaining stability even when nudged or dodging thrown objects. The wheel-legs allow agile turns, sudden stops, directional changes, and balance on uneven surfaces including slopes and multi-level thresholds.
Beyond Previous Attempts
Unlike earlier prototypes that merely climbed, the Saros Rover cleans each step during ascent.
This differentiates Roborock from IFA 2025 competitors like Dreame and Eufy, whose track-based or mechanical suit prototypes could climb stairs but couldn’t clean them. The Rover’s AI algorithms process motion sensors and 3D spatial information in real-time, enabling responses to dynamic hazards and environmental changes.
Your stairs get vacuumed, not just conquered. The system maintains a level body while cleaning each step, addressing the longstanding limitation that forced current robot vacuums to avoid staircases entirely.
Reality Check Required
Controlled demos differ significantly from the chaos of actual homes with pets, toys, and daily clutter.
The Saros Rover remains in development without confirmed pricing or launch dates. While CES demonstrations impressed with balance and agility, real homes present unpredictable challenges that lab environments can’t replicate.
Development stage risks include potential delays and the gap between controlled demonstrations and real-world performance. The ultimate test will be whether this engineering marvel actually cleans your house effectively once it navigates from trade show floor to your living room.
The Saros Rover represents genuine innovation in household robotics, potentially solving the multi-story cleaning puzzle that has frustrated homeowners for years. Whether it survives the transition from demo to daily use remains the ultimate test of its wheel-legged ambitions.
