According to the company, its Uoni A1 can be left alone for 60 days, as it is capable of not only automatically disposing of accumulated trash but also washing its own revolving mop.

Uoni, which has over a decade’s experience in developing robots, says automated vacuum cleaners that also double as mops must be equipped with waterproof motors, be able to release clean water for mopping and yet suck up dirt and leave the floor as dry as possible.

It must also be leakproof. The company says that one of the challenges it had to overcome was in building sufficient capacity within the system to perform all these actions.

Uoni has two rivals in the booming market in China. One is Roborock, which has incorporated laser navigation technology into its system.

Another is Narwal, which has released a product that has an integrated mopping technology with the ability to self-clean.

According to data services provider AVC, online sales of robotic vacuum cleaners in the first seven months of 2021 totalled US$824.4million, a 41% increase from the same period in 2020.

But at the same time, prices for robotic vacuum cleaners are rising as they gradually become larger and have more functions. Many of the technologies used in aerospace, autonomous driving and smartphones are also employed in robotic vacuum cleaners.

Due to their high prices, under 8% of households in China’s urban areas use these machines, according to a report by Citic Securities.