Robotin R2 Pro Named to TIME's Best Inventions of 2026

Big news from all of us at Robotin: TIME has named the Robotin R2 Pro one of the Best Inventions of 2026. It's on TIME's list of the Best Inventions of 2026, in the Household category, one of just 17 picks there out of 300 inventions chosen from around the world this year. A robot that washes carpet is officially one of the ideas changing how we live.

The short version

TIME has named the Robotin R2 Pro one of the Best Inventions of 2026, in the Household category. It's the first robot that washes and dries carpet, and vacuums and mops too, with one robot, one base station and two swappable modules. The R2 Pro is pre-production, and a $5 pre-sale pass holds $150 off it when the pre-sale opens.

Named one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2026

Every year, TIME picks the inventions it believes are changing the way we live. To build the 2026 list, TIME gathered nominations from its editors and correspondents around the world, and through an online application process, paying special attention to growing fields such as health care and AI. Each contender was judged on originality, efficacy, ambition and impact.

Three hundred made the list. The Robotin R2 Pro is one of them, and one of only 17 in the Household category, where it sits alongside names like Samsung, Bosch, Kohler and Philips.

You can read TIME's entry on the Robotin R2 Pro and browse the full 2026 list on TIME's site.

From one stubborn question to TIME's list

Robotin started in August 2023 with a question that wouldn't go away. A robot can vacuum your floors, mop your kitchen and find its own way home to charge. So why can't one wash the carpet you walk on every day?

Our founder and CEO, Jun Long, built the company around that question, and the team has spent the three years since answering it. Hot water heated to 140°F. Extraction at 115AW, a rating you'd normally find on a full-size vacuum. Warm 110°F air to dry the fibers. And a base station that checks how dirty the used water is and sends the robot back again until the carpet is clean.

The R2 Pro launched at CES in January and has collected recognition all year, from Best of CES 2026 Finalist at CNET to Honoree, Best in Home Appliances at the IFA Innovation Award and the 2026 iF Design Award. TIME's list is the biggest stage it has stood on yet.

This one belongs to a lot of people

To the engineers and designers who turned a sketch into a robot that washes carpet: this is yours. To the 144 Kickstarter backers who pledged $117,751 to a company most people had never heard of, before anyone had seen the R2 Pro clean a carpet in their own home: you made this possible, and we haven't forgotten it. And to everyone who has followed along, shared a post or asked "when can I get one?": thank you.

Why build a robot that washes carpet?

Robot floor care has had the same gap since the first robot vacuum. Robot vacuums pick up what sits on top of the pile. Robot mops clean hard floors and lift their pads at the edge of a rug. Neither one washes carpet.

So the deep clean, the one that reaches what has worked its way down into the fibers, has meant renting a machine, booking a professional, or spending an afternoon pushing an upright back and forth. The R2 Pro was built to do that job on its own. We set out the longer argument in our explainer on carpet washing robots.

What the Robotin R2 Pro does

• Washes carpet with hot water. The base station heats the water to 140°F and adds detergent from a 1L tray, at the ratio you set in the Robotin app. Two brushes work it into the pile.
• Extracts at 115AW. That is an air watt rating you usually see on full-size cordless vacuums. Most robot vacuums never publish one.
• Dries with 110°F air blowing across the fibers it has just washed.
• Keeps going until the carpet is clean. When the robot empties its dirty water into the base station, sensors there read how dirty it is. If it still reads dirty, the robot goes back and washes that area again. We call it the Intelligent Dirt Detection System.
• Finds its own way with LiDAR navigation, and a sensor in the robot detects wet carpet.

One robot for every floor

The R2 Pro is modular. The Carpet Wash & Dry Module washes and dries carpet and rugs. The Vacuum & Mop Module vacuums carpet and hard floors and mops hard floors, with the same 115AW of suction. Both fit the same robot and use the same base station, which refills the robot with clean water and takes back its dirty water automatically.

That makes it one machine where a home would otherwise need a robot vacuum, a mop and a carpet cleaner. The platform is built to take more modules, and we have announced a Robotic Arm Module for 2027.

Where the R2 Pro is now

The R2 Pro is pre-production, and the pre-sale has not opened yet. Our Kickstarter campaign closed with $117,751 pledged by 144 backers, more than 11 times its $10,000 goal. In November, our team starts testing the R2 Pro in homes in the UK and Germany.

Get in early with the $5 pre-sale pass

The Kickstarter campaign has ended, so the pre-sale pass is now the way to get ahead. Five dollars today holds $150 off your R2 Pro when the pre-sale opens, and lets you in a full day before the public.

1. Buy the pass. It takes about a minute, and a confirmation lands in your inbox like any other order.
2. It's tied to your account. The $150 is attached to the email you bought it with, not to a code, so use that same email when the pre-sale opens.
3. You go in first. Pass holders get a full day before everyone else, with the discount already applied.

The pass is refundable right up until the pre-sale opens, and it's one per customer.

A CNET editor who saw the R2 Pro at CES called it "the first robot vacuum that can wash a carpet just like a carpet cleaner."

The R2 Pro's recognition so far

Recognition	Awarded by
TIME Best Inventions 2026, Household	TIME
Honoree, Best in Home Appliances	IFA Innovation Award
Best of CES 2026 Finalist	CNET
TWICE Picks Award 2026	TWICE
Best of Kickstarter, Top Innovation	Kickstarter
Best Product of CES	The Gadget Flow
2026 iF Design Award	iF International Forum Design
gia Finalist, Home + Housewares	Global Innovation Awards

Read more about the IFA Innovation Award recognition from September.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Robotin R2 Pro on TIME's Best Inventions of 2026 list?

Yes. TIME named the Robotin R2 Pro to its list of the Best Inventions of 2026, in the Household category. The list, released on October 15, 2026, features 300 inventions.

What is TIME's Best Inventions list?

TIME's Best Inventions is an annual list of the inventions TIME believes are changing how we live. The 2026 edition, released on October 15, 2026, names 300 inventions. TIME gathered nominations from its editors and correspondents around the world and through an online application, then judged each one on originality, efficacy, ambition and impact.

What is the Robotin R2 Pro?

The Robotin R2 Pro is a robot carpet cleaner, and the first robot that washes and dries carpet, and vacuums and mops too. It washes with 140°F water, extracts at 115AW and dries with 110°F air, then takes a Vacuum & Mop Module for everyday cleaning and hard floors.

Can I buy the Robotin R2 Pro now?

Not yet. The R2 Pro is pre-production and the pre-sale has not opened. A $5 pre-sale pass holds $150 off and gets you in a day early when it does.

How much will the Robotin R2 Pro cost?

Pre-sale pricing is announced when the pre-sale opens. A pre-sale pass takes $150 off that price. For context, we've written about what robot carpet cleaners cost.

Is the pre-sale pass refundable?

Yes. The $5 pass is refundable right up until the pre-sale opens.

Can I still back the R2 Pro on Kickstarter?

No. The Kickstarter campaign has ended, with $117,751 pledged by 144 backers. The pre-sale pass is now the way to reserve your discount and early access.

How is the R2 Pro different from a robot vacuum?

A robot vacuum lifts loose soil off the top of the carpet. The R2 Pro washes the carpet with hot water, extracts the dirty water at 115AW and dries it with warm air, and its base station checks the dirty water to decide whether an area needs another wash.