- New design targets hard-to-reach corners
- Company continues push into consumer applications
Unitree (宇树科技) has secured a cleaning robot patent, marking a crucial step by the quadruped and humanoid robot maker to extend its technology into new product categories.
The patent, titled “a cleaning robot and return elastic structure,” describes a system in which a retractable brush head can shift position when encountering obstacles.
The mechanism allows the brush to yield under external force and adjust its angle to better reach tight corners, improving cleaning coverage in areas typically difficult for conventional robots.
Filed in May 2023, the patent took nearly three years to be granted, according to data from Tianyancha, a business registry intelligence provider, shows.
The move is not Unitree’s first attempt to branch out beyond legged robotics and expand monetization channels.
Despite being the world’s largest supplier of quadruped and humanoid robots by shipment volume, the company has previously explored consumer-facing products.
In April 2022, Unitree introduced the Unitree PUMP, a smart fitness device that applies robotic joint force-control technology to adjustable resistance training.
Sitting down with media many years later, founder and CEO Wang Xingxing said that the idea stemmed from his own frustrations with bulky dumbbells and imprecise resistance bands.
Instead, he aimed to translate high-end robotics capabilities into more accessible consumer tools, he was widely quoted as saying in media reports.
However, Unitree’s prospects in the home cleaning robot market are highly uncertain, given how rife the sector has been with competition among established players including Dreame Technology (追觅科技), Ecovacs (科沃斯), Xiaomi (小米), Roborock (石头科技) and Narwal (云鲸).
