Robot vacuums can clean carpets with suction, and many of them can also mop hard flooring. But no robot vacuum is capable of wet cleaning carpets the way a carpet cleaner is, due to the complications of needing specialized brushes and cleaning solutions.
The Robotin R2, a product from a startup, is attempting to solve this problem, and the solution is remarkably straightforward in its simplicity. Just replace the entire front of the robot vacuum with a new modular attachment.
The modules slide in place mechanically. To remove them, just press on the clips to detach. Ajay Kumar/CNET
I watched the Robotin R2 at CES 2026 as it successfully washed a small strip of carpet. I even touched the panel to verify. The company said the units are currently in trial production after a successful Kickstarter campaign. Early backers are expected to receive their units between March and April 2026. Mass production for general consumer release is expected to occur between April and June 2026.
The Robotin R2 separated from its carpet cleaning module. You can slot the dry cleaning module in if you want to vacuum instead. Ajay Kumar/CNET
The robot consists of a core robot unit and two modules: a deep vacuum module for regular suction on various flooring types, and a carpet wash and dry module specifically for cleaning carpets.
The base station is also massive, featuring an auto-empty dustbin, a 2.4-gallon clean water tank and a 1.6-gallon dirty water tank that also recycles the water. The entire unit measures 31.73 inches in height, 18.46 inches in width and 25.33 inches in length. That makes it about as big and bulky as a portable air conditioner, so it’ll take up a lot of space and probably isn’t practical in a smaller apartment.
The R2 has a massive base station with two clean water tanks, a dirty water tank and a large dustbin. It takes up a lot of space. Ajay Kumar/CNET
Replacing one module with another seemed relatively simple. I watched one of the staff members at the booth do it by simply slotting one in and out. I was also able to give it a try myself and found it relatively easy to use.
The carpet washing section uses a mixture of water and cleaning solution; however, for the purposes of the demo, they were only using water, as I was able to confirm by touching it that it was indeed wet. It can clean a carpet of up to 400 square feet in about an hour, using water and suction.
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