TL;DR
- SwitchBot has introduced its new Multitasking Family Robotic K20 Plus Professional.
- It incorporates a “FusionPlatform” that permits it to hold payloads and carry out duties past vacuuming.
- Patrons can add additional kits for duties reminiscent of safety patrols or air purification, reworking the robotic into a flexible family assistant.
SwitchBot, finest identified for its good robotic vacuums, is again within the highlight at CES 2025 with a tool that goals to push family automation to new heights. Referred to as the SwitchBot Multitasking Family Robotic K20 Plus Professional, this recent launch actually emphasizes the “multi” in “multitasking.” Whereas it nonetheless vacuums and navigates your own home within the regular method, the K20 Plus Professional guarantees a bunch of additional options that reach past mere flooring cleansing.
At the start, the K20 Plus Professional is a robotic vacuum. It makes use of D-ToF Lidar Navigation and twin laser detection to map out your own home, creating an in depth format that helps it dodge furnishings, pet toys, and different on a regular basis obstacles. In concept, this could ship constant, dependable cleansing with out frequent run-ins with objects, successfully minimizing the necessity for human intervention.
What makes this mannequin totally different out of your run-of-the-mill robovac is the brand new “FusionPlatform.” Consider FusionPlatform as a cell base that bodily connects to the robotic vacuum (through one thing SwitchBot calls ClawLock) and transforms the robovac into a flexible helper on wheels. Able to carrying payloads of as much as 8kg (~17.6lbs), it may well ship meals or drinks, transport small packages, or help seniors by transferring objects with out requiring anybody to bend or elevate.
In accordance with SwitchBot, you possibly can information the K20 Plus Professional like a small RC automobile, so if you happen to ever really feel like shuttling a snack or small package deal to a different room on prime of your robovac, that choice is out there. That’s one thought I’ve at all times had about robotic vacuums since they first got here into existence. Apparently, somebody at SwitchBot puzzled the identical factor and determined, “Why not?”
The corporate envisions much more superior makes use of via separate “kits” that work with the FusionPlatform. One such instance is the Pan/Tilt Cam Plus equipment, which turns the K20 Plus Professional right into a cell safety patrol machine, capable of roam from room to room, monitor exercise, and ship real-time alerts.
One other equipment pairs the robotic with a SwitchBot Air Air purifier, permitting it to maneuver round and clear the air in a number of rooms. SwitchBot can even supply separate kits for an air fan, a pill stand, and even an all-in-one omni bundle, which can embody all of those attachments.
For anybody who likes to tinker, FusionPlatform is constructed to assist customized components, 3D-printed attachments, and third-party add-ons past the kits SwitchBot will supply. There are additionally a number of energy ports for hooking up additional devices like UV sterilization lamps or compact fridges. In different phrases, in case you have a inventive concept for a house robotic, SwitchBot needs you to run with it.
The K20 Plus Professional matches proper into SwitchBot’s present ecosystem and in addition performs properly with Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri, so it may well match into broader dwelling automation routines — like purifying a room’s air as quickly because it enters it.
Official pricing and launch dates stay underneath wraps, although the robotic is slated to go on sale on SwitchBot’s web site later this yr. Provided that the present K10 Plus Professional ($599.99 at Amazon) retails for round $600, you possibly can most likely count on the K20 Plus Professional to land someplace in that vary.
