Lazy bones rejoice as SF robotics company introduces house-cleaning robot
California homeowners may soon be able to hand off one of their least favorite chores — to a robot.
San Francisco-based Tau Robotics has launched a pilot program offering robot-powered house cleaning for $30 an hour, with a limited number of Bay Area residents getting first dibs.
“Yeah, yesterday we made it public that we are starting to offer a cleaning service with humanoids in SF,” Alex Koch, CEO and co-founder of Tau Robotics, told ABC7.
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But don’t expect a real-life Rosie the Robot just yet.
There’s some good news for homeowners who despise doing chores.
Robot from Tau Robotics (pictured) wiping down a table.
For now, the futuristic cleaners aren’t fully autonomous. Koch said the humanoids still need to be operated remotely by a human from a central location, with artificial intelligence helping guide their movements.
Koch told ABC7 the company’s long-term goal is to make home cleaning services more accessible.
Videos posted on Tau Robotics’ website show the robots tackling everyday chores, including wiping down counters and tables, vacuuming floors, taking out the trash and picking up clutter. One clip even shows a humanoid climbing out of a minivan before heading into a house for a cleaning job.
Tau Robotics’s robot (pictured) on its way to a cleaning shift after exiting a minivan. X/@alexkoch_ai
Tau Robotics’s robot (pictured) vacuuming office floors.
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Koch told ABC7 that the goal of the robots is to expand access to home cleaning services.
Not everyone is buying the sci-fi sales pitch.
Ken Goldberg, a UC Berkeley engineering professor with four decades of robotics experience, said he remains skeptical the machines are ready to replace human housekeepers anytime soon.
“I would be very surprised if these could do anything close to a useful job of cleaning a house. So, being able to pick up objects off the floor is even still a challenge for robots today,” Goldberg told the station. “And being able to sweep and wipe out areas of, you know, counters and underneath things, that is very, very difficult.”
Goldberg also questioned whether the company’s promotional videos accurately reflect what the robots can really do inside a home.
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“You don’t know if it’s been speeded up, you don’t know if there’s a human behind-the-scenes, you don’t know if they’ve kind of very carefully constructed the environment just right, so it works that time,” Goldberg said.
Koch, however, told ABC7 that the robots are in fact already capable of handling a lot of household tasks.
“But like, vacuum cleaning for example, that’s working pretty well already. And yeah, like basic, wiping the kitchen counter. That’s also pretty doable,” Koch said.
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