Robotin's R2 Pro Ends 150-Year Wait for Automated Carpet Washing

LAS VEGAS, NV – January 13, 2026 – By Timothy Bell

Among the dazzling lights and futuristic concepts of CES 2026, a startup named Robotin has captured the spotlight with a device that promises to solve one of the oldest and most stubborn household chores. The company's flagship innovation, the Robotin R2 Pro, has swept a series of prestigious "Best of CES" awards, not for being a slightly better vacuum or mop, but for achieving what has long been considered the final frontier in home robotics: fully automated deep carpet washing and drying.

Garnering top honors from industry authorities like CNET, TWICE, and The Gadget Flow, the R2 Pro drew crowds and widespread acclaim for its breakthrough modular design. While robotic vacuums have roamed our floors for over two decades, they have always come with a critical limitation. They could vacuum dust from carpets, but the moment deep cleaning was required, they were useless. The R2 Pro has shattered that barrier, signaling a massive shift in home automation and generating significant interest from global distributors and investors ready to bet on the end of the rental carpet cleaner.

A New Category in Home Robotics

What makes the Robotin R2 Pro a standout is its identity as the world's first modular AI home robot designed for comprehensive floor care. Instead of being a jack-of-all-trades and master of none, its system allows it to become a specialist on demand. For daily maintenance of tile or hardwood, users can snap in the "Vacuum & Mop Module." But the true revolution lies in its second attachment: the "Carpet Wash & Dry Module."

This module transforms the R2 Pro into a miniature, autonomous version of the professional truck-mounted systems many households hire for deep cleaning. The process is methodical and multi-staged. First, it injects hot water and a cleaning solution to break down dirt embedded deep within carpet fibers. Next, a specialized brush scrubs the fibers to dislodge stubborn grime and stains. It then employs powerful 115 Air Watt suction to extract the filthy water, pulling the dirt out of the home for good.

Crucially, Robotin has addressed the most common complaint with carpet washing: dampness. The R2 Pro concludes its cycle with a hot air drying function, a feature that aims to eliminate the dreaded "wet sock" experience and prevent the growth of mold or mildew. This entire process is managed by a massive base station that holds a 2.4-gallon clean water tank and a 1.6-gallon dirty water tank, minimizing the need for human intervention. According to the company, it can wash and dry a 300-400 square foot area in about three hours, turning a day of laborious work into a passive, automated task.

The Culmination of a Century-Long Struggle

The significance of the R2 Pro is best understood as the climax of a 150-year-long war against the ground we walk on. That battle began in 1875, when cleaning a rug meant scrubbing on hands and knees with a caustic mixture of ox gall and ammonia. The human spirit for innovation, however, provided relief. Melville Bissell's mechanical sweeper in 1876 and William Hoover's electric vacuum in 1908 conquered surface dust. Yet deep-seated filth remained an industrial problem, relegated to massive "Rug Plants" in the 1930s.

The mid-century boom in wall-to-wall carpeting trapped the problem inside our homes, leading to the invention of hot water extraction in the 1960s and rental machines like the Rug Doctor in 1978. While these tools brought power to the people, the labor remained ours. Even the dawn of robotics in 2002 offered only partial freedom. For twenty years, robots could vacuum, and later, they learned to mop hard floors. But when faced with a soiled carpet, even the most advanced AI would retreat, lifting its mop pads and running away from the one task consumers desperately wanted automated.

This long-standing gap in technology is what Robotin was founded to fill. The R2 Pro doesn't just improve on an existing function; it completes a picture of home automation that has been unfinished for decades.

Redefining a Competitive Market

The robotic cleaning market is a crowded and competitive space, with established giants like iRobot, Ecovacs, and Roborock constantly pushing the boundaries of suction power and navigation AI. At this very same CES, competitors showcased impressive advancements, including robots that can climb stairs. However, Robotin has skillfully sidestepped a direct feature-for-feature battle by creating an entirely new value proposition.

Media outlets covering the show have been quick to validate the R2 Pro's unique position. A CNET editor declared it "the first robot vacuum that can wash a carpet just like a carpet cleaner." PCMag included it in its list of "Most Mind-Bending Prototypes of CES 2026," stating, "It's the first robot vacuum I've seen that can actually deep clean your carpet." While the core innovation has been universally praised, some early hands-on impressions from the show floor noted that the prototype's large base station is "enormous" and that manually swapping the modules felt "a little tedious"—details Robotin will likely need to refine for a seamless consumer experience.

With a projected launch price between $1,000 and $1,500, the R2 Pro is unapologetically a premium device. Robotin is betting that consumers, especially those in households with pets, children, and allergies, will see it not as an expensive vacuum but as a cost-effective replacement for years of professional cleaning services and rental fees.

The Vision: "Robot In, Chores Out"

Behind the sophisticated hardware and AI is a simple, human-centric origin story. Robotin was founded in 2022 by robotics expert Jun Long, who was inspired after witnessing his wife's constant battle to keep their home's carpets clean. His vision was to create a solution that would end the "war on chores," leading to the company's straightforward motto: "Robot in, chores out."

After perfecting the prototype in 2025 and launching a successful Kickstarter campaign, the company used CES 2026 as its global coming-out party. The flood of industry awards has been matched by a surge in commercial interest, with the company confirming it is in advanced talks with major international dealers, distributors, and investment partners who recognize the R2 Pro as a category-defining product.

With early Kickstarter backers scheduled to receive their units in the spring and a full consumer launch slated for mid-2026, Robotin is on a fast track from a startup concept to a market-ready reality. For a world that has waited generations for a truly effortless way to clean carpets, the arrival of a fully autonomous solution represents a pivotal moment. The Robotin R2 Pro is more than just a clever gadget; it is the long-awaited delivery on a promise that technology has been making, but failing to keep, for over two decades. The era of truly comprehensive, automated floor care appears to have finally begun.