Many of today’s best robot vacuums feature docking stations that automatically empty trash cans, clean mop pads, and sometimes more. Now, it seems that same idea is starting to make its way into window cleaning robots.
I just discovered the new version of Ecovacs’ windowbot – the WinBot W3 Omni – at CES 2026, and it comes with its own clean dock. It’s called Vortex Wash OMNI Station, and Ecovacs claims it’s the first of its kind.
Once your automated window cleaning is finished, you remove the plate with the mop pads on it (without needing to touch the dirty pads yourself) and slide it into a base.
Inside, rotating brushes and squeegees clean it in a one-minute cycle. Then it is ready to be reattached.
While it’s a neat trick, it doesn’t make as much sense here as it does on a robot vacuum.
First, window robot mops aren’t as dirty as robovacs because they use virtually no water. This is a great dock for something that could easily be maintained by occasionally tossing the pad in the washing machine.
Second, it requires only slightly less effort: you have to remove the pad to insert it into the vacuum cleaner. And it’s not like self-cleaning helps the windowbot operate autonomously (as is the case with robotic vacuum stations) – you’ll still need to stay to supervise it while it cleans and lift it to move it from one new window to another.
Load forward
While I probably wouldn’t buy this large and bulky dock for its auto-cleaning features alone, it does have another neat trick that helps make the proposition stronger.
The dock also serves as a charger and power source for the windowbot. Typically, window cleaning robots need to be plugged in to work – they need to be lightweight to stay suctioned to the glass, so they don’t want to carry a heavy battery with them.
Here, the wireless dock acts as a separate battery, with a cable running from it to the window cleaner. You then charge the docking station as needed.
If you have a window located in an awkward location, far from a power outlet, you will not normally be able to clean it with your window cleaning robot. Except now you could bring that base to your window out of the way.
I’m still not sure this is the most elegant solution but it’s an interesting progression in a category that I think will become more popular.
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