Beta Tester Terms and Conditions

These terms apply to the Robotin R2 Pro Early Beta Tester Programme (the "Programme"), run by Robotin Inc., 10 Corporate Park Ste. 330, Irvine, CA 92606, United States ("Robotin", "we", "us"). By submitting an application you confirm that you have read, understood and accept them.

The Programme is open worldwide, so some sections below deal with shipping, electrical supply and local law. Please read sections 5, 6 and 18 even if you skim the rest.

If anything here is unclear, email contact@robotin.com before you apply.

1. Who we are and what this covers

Robotin Inc. is a home robotics company based in Irvine, California. We designed the Robotin R2 Pro, a modular robot that vacuums carpet and also washes and dries it.

These terms cover taking part in the Programme. They do not replace or change your rights as a Kickstarter backer, and they do not affect the reward you are owed for your pledge. If the two ever appear to conflict on anything to do with your pledge, your pledge wins.

2. Who can take part

To be eligible you must:

• be a confirmed backer of the Robotin R2 project on Kickstarter, applying with the same email address used for your pledge;
• be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into an agreement in your country;
• have a residential address we can ship to, and be the person who will use the robot in that home;
• have carpet in your home, since the Programme exists to test carpet cleaning;
• be willing to give feedback throughout the test period.

We check every application against the Kickstarter backer record by hand. Applications we cannot match to a pledge will not be processed. Giving information you know to be untrue in order to qualify ends your participation immediately.

One restriction that is not our choice. Robotin Inc. is a United States company, so we cannot ship to countries, regions or individuals subject to United States sanctions or export restrictions, and we cannot include anyone appearing on a restricted party list. If that applies to your address we will tell you, and it is a legal limit on us rather than any judgement about you.

3. Places, phases and how we choose

There are 30 places in the Programme in total, released in three phases. Applying does not guarantee one.

We select a deliberate spread of households by flooring type, carpet area, pets and family size, so that testing reflects the range of homes the robot will live in. We also try to spread places across countries, which means a strong application can still miss out because we already have similar homes in that phase.

Selection is done by people, not by an algorithm. We will contact you at the email address on your application whether or not you are selected. If you are selected we will confirm what we need from you and the delivery arrangements in writing before anything ships.

The test period runs for three months, starting when your prototype arrives.

We may close the Programme, change the number of places or phases, or decline any application at our discretion.

4. The prototype you receive

Selected testers receive the full Robotin R2 Pro package, as a final prototype, to use in their own home. Two things follow from that, and both matter:

• It is not your pledge reward. Your Kickstarter pledge is fulfilled separately, with a final manufactured unit from the production run, on the campaign's own timeline. Taking part does not change, delay, replace or reduce anything you are owed as a backer. That holds whether the prototype stays with you or comes back to us.
• Whether it comes back to us depends on the circumstances. The prototype remains our property while the Programme runs. Depending on how testing goes and what we need the unit for afterwards, we may ask you to return it, or we may not ask at all. We cannot say which at application time, and we will tell you either way. If we do ask, we give you reasonable notice and we arrange and pay for the return.

Expect a prototype rather than a retail product. That means:

• hardware, firmware, packaging and the companion app may differ from the final manufactured version;
• features may change, be added, or be removed during the test period;
• you may receive firmware updates more frequently than general customers;
• faults are more likely than in a finished product, which is the entire point of testing.

There is no charge to take part, and we will never ask you for payment or payment details in connection with the Programme. If we need to replace or exchange your prototype during the Programme, we arrange and pay for that too.

Please keep the prototype in your own home. Do not sell it, rent it, lend it, give it away, take it apart, or send it to another country.

5. Getting it to you: shipping, duty and delays

We arrange and pay for shipping to the address on your application. That includes any import duty, tax, customs charge or clearance fee that arises on the way in.

If a courier or customs office asks you for money, do not pay it. Send us the paperwork and we will deal with it, or reimburse you if you have already paid.

Delivery times vary a lot by country, and customs can add delays that neither we nor the carrier control. We will tell you what we know, but we cannot promise a delivery date.

You are responsible for giving us a complete and correct address, and for being able to receive a large parcel there. If a shipment is returned to us because the address was wrong or nobody could accept it, we will talk to you before trying again.

If we later ask for the prototype back, we arrange and pay for the return, including any duty or paperwork, and we send you what you need to hand it over.

6. Electrical supply and certification

This section matters because we ship worldwide and mains electricity is not the same everywhere.

The R2 Pro and its base station run on mains power and heat water. We will send you a unit configured for the mains voltage and plug type of the country on your application, which is one reason that address needs to be right.

• Do not use a travel adapter or a voltage converter with the prototype or its base station.
• Do not take it to a country with a different mains supply.
• If the plug or the stated voltage does not match your supply when it arrives, stop, do not plug it in, and contact us.

About certification. This is a pre-production unit supplied to you for evaluation. It is not a retail product, it is not offered for sale, and it may not yet carry all of the certification or conformity marks that the finished product will carry in your country. That is normal for a prototype, and it is another reason the unit must stay in your home and must not be resold or passed on.

7. What we ask of you

In return for early access we ask that you:

• set the robot up and use it in your home as you normally would;
• send short written reports on how it is performing;
• send short video reports, showing the robot at work and the carpet before and after;
• answer our questions in a brief form every week or two;
• join an occasional phone or video call, if something needs talking through directly;
• report faults, safety concerns and unexpected behaviour promptly;
• look after the prototype reasonably, and return it to us if we ask.

Feedback is a real commitment across the full three months rather than a formality. If you stop responding we may end your participation under section 13.

We know the calls may cross time zones. We will offer times that work for you rather than expecting you to be awake at ours.

8. Using the robot safely

Please follow the setup guide and safety instructions supplied with the prototype. In particular:

• use only the supplied power adapter, base station and the cleaning solutions we approve;
• do not modify, disassemble, or attempt to repair the unit yourself;
• keep it away from standing water, pools and outdoor use;
• place the base station where a water leak would not reach electrical sockets, and not on a rug or a wooden floor you would mind getting wet;
• supervise the first few cleaning cycles rather than leaving the robot running unattended;
• keep young children and pets away from the robot while it is running, at least until you are confident in how it behaves;
• stop using it and contact us straight away if you notice damage, overheating, an unusual noise, a burning smell, or any water where it should not be.

Test carpet you can afford to have marked. Deep cleaning involves heated water, and while the R2 Pro is designed to dry the carpet afterwards, we cannot guarantee results on every fibre, dye or backing. If you have antique, delicate or high-value rugs, please do not test on them.

9. Confidentiality

During the test period you may see unreleased features, firmware, designs or plans. Please do not publish detailed technical information, internal documents, unreleased specifications or pre-release firmware details without our written agreement.

You remain free to say that you are a beta tester, to describe your own experience honestly, and to post your own photos and opinions of the product, including criticism. We are not asking you to say nice things, and nothing in these terms requires a positive review or stops you reporting a safety problem to anyone, including a regulator.

This section does not apply to information that is already public, that you knew before joining, or that you are required to disclose by law.

10. Ownership, and the feedback you send us

Robotin owns the robot, including the prototype supplied to you, along with its software, designs, trade marks and documentation. Nothing in the Programme transfers any of that to you unless we tell you otherwise in writing.

If you send us feedback, suggestions or ideas about the product, you agree that we may use them to develop and improve our products without restriction, without payment and without any obligation to credit you. You confirm the feedback is yours to give. This covers ideas and observations, not the photographs and videos themselves, which section 11 deals with.

11. Your reports, photos and words

You keep ownership of the photographs and videos you create.

The written and video reports you send us as part of the Programme go to the engineering team. We use them to understand how the robot is behaving in your home, and that is all.

If we want to use any of that footage publicly, or your words or photos in our marketing, we will ask you first. We will ask each time, and we will only use material you have specifically agreed to. You can decline without affecting your place in the Programme, and you can withdraw permission for future use at any time by emailing us. Withdrawing does not oblige us to recall material already printed or already published, but we will stop using it going forward.

We will never publish your full address, phone number or email address.

12. Support, faults and damage

Beta testers get a direct contact route into the team rather than the standard support queue. Response times are best effort, and may be slower outside United States business hours.

If the prototype develops a fault, tell us before attempting anything yourself. Faults are expected in a test programme and you will not be charged for them. We will repair, replace or collect the unit at our cost, unless the damage was caused by misuse or by ignoring sections 6 or 8.

If the prototype damages your home or your belongings, stop using it, tell us immediately, and keep any evidence such as photographs. We will deal with it. We are not going to hide behind the fact that you were helping us test.

13. Ending your participation

You can leave the Programme at any time by emailing contact@robotin.com. You do not need to give a reason.

Leaving does not affect your Kickstarter pledge. You still receive your final manufactured unit from the production run, exactly as you would have if you had never applied.

When your participation ends, we may or may not ask for the prototype back. That depends on the state of the unit, the results of testing and what we need at the time, as set out in section 4. If we do ask, we give you reasonable notice and we arrange and pay for the return.

We may end your participation if you stop providing feedback, breach these terms, provide false information, or use the unit in a way that is unsafe or damages it deliberately. If we do, we will tell you why, and we will give you a chance to put it right first unless the problem is a safety one.

Sections 4, 9, 10, 11, 14, 16 and 18 continue to apply after participation ends.

14. Your personal data

Robotin Inc. is the controller of the personal data you give us for the Programme. You can reach us about anything in this section at contact@robotin.com.

What we collect

Your name, email address, Kickstarter backer number, shipping address, phone number, and the details you give us about your home: flooring type, carpet area, whether there are pets, whether there are young children, and anything you add in the optional question. If you are selected we also hold the reports, photographs, videos and messages you send us during the test period.

We do not ask for payment details at any stage, and we do not collect information about your children beyond a yes or no answer about whether young children live in the home.

Why we use it, and our legal basis

• To run the Programme: confirming eligibility, choosing testers, shipping the prototype, contacting you, and understanding your feedback in context. Our basis is performance of our agreement with you, and taking steps at your request before it starts.
• To develop the product: analysing feedback to improve the robot and its software. Our basis is our legitimate interest in improving what we make. You can object to this, and we will stop unless we have a compelling reason not to.
• To use your words or images in marketing: only ever with your consent, asked for separately each time, and withdrawable.
• To meet legal, tax, customs and safety obligations, including product safety records. Our basis is compliance with our legal obligations.

Giving us this information is voluntary, but we cannot process an application without it, because we cannot verify a backer or ship a robot without a name, an email address and an address.

Who sees it

Our own team, and:

• Google, because applications are recorded in a Google Sheet on Google Workspace. Google acts as our processor.
• Shipping and customs partners, who need your name, address and phone number to deliver the prototype and clear it through customs.
• Kickstarter, only in the sense that we compare your details against the backer record we already have.

We do not sell your personal data, we do not share it for anyone else's advertising, and we do not use it for advertising unrelated to the Programme.

Where it is held

We are based in the United States, so when you apply your information is sent to and held in the United States, and our processors may hold it there too. United States law does not offer the same protections as the law of some other countries, in particular for people in the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area and Switzerland. Where a transfer of your data needs a safeguard under those laws, we rely on the standard contractual clauses approved for that purpose, and on the equivalent terms our processors offer their customers. You can ask us for more detail about this.

How long we keep it

Applications from people we do not select: 12 months from the date you apply, then deleted.

Records for selected testers: for the test period and 24 months afterwards, so that we can trace a fault or a safety issue back to the unit and the home it was in. Some records connected to product safety, tax or customs may be kept longer where the law requires it.

You can ask us to delete your information sooner, and we will unless we are required to keep it.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you have some or all of the following rights. We will honour them for every applicant, wherever you are, rather than only where we are obliged to:

• ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
• have inaccurate data corrected;
• ask us to delete your data;
• ask us to restrict how we use it;
• object to our using it on the basis of legitimate interests;
• ask for your data in a portable form, or sent to someone else;
• withdraw consent you have given, at any time, without affecting anything done before you withdrew it.

Email us and we will respond within one month. There is no charge.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data you can complain to your local data protection authority. In the United Kingdom that is the Information Commissioner's Office. In the European Economic Area it is the supervisory authority for your country of residence. You can also complain to us first, and we would rather you did, but you do not have to.

If something goes wrong with your data

If a breach of security affects your personal data and is likely to put you at risk, we will tell you without undue delay, and we will notify the relevant authority where the law requires it.

15. What we do not promise

The Programme is a test. The prototype is supplied for evaluation in real conditions, and we do not promise that it will be free of faults, that any particular feature will ship, or that it will remove any specific stain or odour from your carpet.

We also do not promise a delivery date, continuous availability of the companion app, or that the finished product will behave the way the prototype does.

16. Our responsibility to you

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for:

• death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
• fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
• gross negligence or wilful misconduct;
• defective products, where the law of your country makes a producer responsible;
• anything else that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.

Subject to that, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking these terms or failing to use reasonable care. We are not responsible for loss or damage that is not foreseeable, and we are not responsible for loss of profit, loss of business, or loss of data where you are using the prototype for business purposes rather than as a consumer.

Section 12 sets out what we do if the prototype damages your home or belongings, and this section does not cut that down.

You are not responsible to us for normal wear, for faults, or for anything that goes wrong while you are using the prototype as we asked you to. You would be responsible for deliberate damage, or for damage caused by ignoring sections 6 or 8.

17. If something goes wrong

If you are unhappy about anything, email contact@robotin.com and give us 30 days to put it right. Most problems get solved faster that way than through a formal process.

This is a request, not a condition. It does not stop you going to a regulator, an ombudsman, a dispute resolution scheme or a court whenever you want to.

18. Governing law, and where a dispute is heard

These terms, and any dispute arising from them, are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict of law rules, and the courts of Orange County, California have jurisdiction.

If you are a consumer, that does not take anything away from you. Specifically:

• you keep the protection of any mandatory consumer law of the country where you live, and if that law gives you more than these terms do, that law applies;
• you may bring proceedings in the courts of the country where you live, and if you live in the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area you may do so regardless of the paragraph above;
• we will bring any proceedings against you in the courts of the country where you live.

These terms are written in English. If we give you a translation, it is for convenience, and the English version applies if the two differ.

19. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. If we make a material change while you are taking part, we will tell selected testers by email, explain what changed, and give you the option to leave the Programme instead of accepting it. We will not apply a change retroactively to something that has already happened.

The date at the top of this page tells you when it was last updated. When you apply, we record which version you accepted.

20. General

If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest continues to apply, and that part applies to the greatest extent it lawfully can.

If we do not enforce something straight away, we have not given up the right to enforce it later.

These terms, together with what we confirm to you in writing when you are selected, are the whole agreement between us about the Programme.

You cannot transfer your place in the Programme to anyone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations to a company that takes over our business, and we will tell you if that happens; it will not reduce your rights.

Neither of us is responsible for a delay or failure caused by something genuinely outside our control, such as a natural disaster, a strike, a carrier failure, war, or an act of government. If that happens we will tell you and we will agree a sensible way forward.

Email is a valid way for us to give you notice, at the address on your application, so please keep it current.

21. Contact us

Questions about the Programme, these terms, or your personal data: contact@robotin.com

Robotin Inc., 10 Corporate Park Ste. 330, Irvine, CA 92606, United States.