What are robot vacuum cleaners but little drones that scuttle around on the floor? That seems to be the thinking at DJI, which teased a little guy called Romo — the company’s first robot vacuum. There’s little to go on besides the teaser image (above) and the time for the full announcement, but a few aspects are apparent right off the bat.

We’ll have full details next week on 6 August, when DJI will unveil the Romo in its entirety at 20h00 in its native country. The announcement should be visible here in South Africa at 14h00 on 6 August. Time zone differences and all that.

All roads lead to Romo

The robo-vac, based on the available visuals, looks to feature similar lines and, in all likelihood, the same construction materials as DJI’s line of airborne drones. Beyond the curved domes, it doesn’t take many chances to set itself apart visually from robotic vacuum cleaners made by other Chinese companies.

Anything really stellar will live on the inside of the Romo. DJI’s drones are known for their obstacle avoidance systems, and those sensors and features would translate well to a house-cleaning appliance. It remains to be seen which tech it’ll drop into the Romo, though it’s likely to be a combination of the trio it uses for drones.

First prize would be a combination of DJI’s binocular vision and ultrasonic sensor technology, but given that the latter is found in the company’s priciest drones, that may be too much to ask for. There is certainly a sensor array on the front of the Romo, possibly with another underneath, but that’s not visible in any images the Chinese tech-maker has shared so far.

We’ll know more in a little more than a week’s time.