Your vacuum has brought a vacuum.

Every large cleaning robot eventually meets a sofa with a different idea about clearance.

iRobot's Roomba Duo concept answers with a second robot. The main machine is designed to vacuum and steam-mop open areas, while an arm deploys a compact companion for tighter spaces. The company says the pair share a home map and a maintenance dock.

iRobot describes a large cleaner and a compact companion deployed by an arm. The proposed shared map and dock make coordination part of the system, alongside cleaning.

There is something pleasingly sensible about giving different bodies different jobs. There is also something gloriously excessive about your vacuum arriving with an away team.

The important word is prototype. iRobot showed Duo at IFA in September, but its announcement gives no consumer price or shipping date. Coordination, maintenance and real-home cleaning still need evidence beyond the demonstration. We have not tried it. Your sofa has not signed off either.

A prototype demonstration establishes less than a long-term home test. The checked announcement gives no consumer price or shipping date; the unrelated Duo Set bundle is a different thing.

Invented robot voice: “I cannot fit under the sofa. Deploying colleague. Colleague reports one sock, four crumbs and a disappointing lack of advancement opportunities.”