The new Roomba Electro Plus 5-in-1 Disinfecting Hard Floor CleaneriRobotFor the past couple of years it seemed that every brand in consumer tech wanted to make a robot, but iRobot has taken the reverse path.After spending more than two decades convincing us that robots should do the cleaning with its Roomba range, it now seems to be admitting there are some jobs where a little human help still makes sense.The company - which isn’t actually iRobot any longer in a lot of ways - has unveiled the Roomba Electro Plus, the first non-robot cleaning product to carry the Roomba name.I added the caveat that iRobot isn’t quite the same now as the Electro Plus comes just months after iRobot was acquired by Picea Robotics following its bankruptcy.The company entered a pre-packaged bankruptcy process and lined up its Chinese contract manufacturer, Picea, as a buyer back in December.The Electro Plus is the latest in a slightly “different” approach from the brand that emerged from the Chapter 11 flames; the new model follows the iRobot Roomba Mini, the smallest Roomba ever, that went on sale back in March.Back to the Roomba Electro Plus though and it’s a cordless wet-dry cleaner designed for sealed hard floors. Like similar all-in-one cleaners from the likes of Mova, Dreame and Roborock, it vacuums and mops simultaneously. But iRobot has added a twist that sets it apart: rather than relying on bottled floor cleaner, the Electro Plus uses electrolyzed water technology to convert ordinary tap water into a disinfecting solution capable of killing 99.99% of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and germs. MORE FOR YOUAccording to iRobot, the process requires no chemicals, no steam, and leaves the resulting solution safe for homes with children and pets.The $399 cleaner also packs a self-cleaning PowerSpin roller mop, Dirt Detect technology that automatically adjusts cleaning intensity, an anti-hair wrap system, and a self-propelled design that reduces the effort needed to push it around the house.Its ThermaClean dock handles much of the maintenance, automatically washing, sanitizing, and drying the roller after every clean, although you'll still need to empty and refill the water tanks yourself.Alongside the new cordless hard-floor cleaner, iRobot has also refreshed its more traditional robot vacuum lineup with five updated Roomba models for North America, which first went live in Europe earlier this year.All six new products, including the Roomba Electro Plus, are available to pre-order now through iRobot, and will be landing at selected retailers later in July.