Roomba maker developing robot with arms that may do the dishes

IRobot Corp., maker of the disc-shaped Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, said it’s working on a household helper that will have arms that could load dishes, pick up clothes, or bring food from kitchen to table.

The Bedford, Massachusetts-based company won't start selling such a product for at least five years. But prototypes of the arms exist inside its research and development labs, Chief Executive Officer Colin Angle said in an interview on the sidelines of the CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas. IRobot's main new hardware launch for 2020 will be its Terra lawnmower.

The shares gained as much as 3.8% Thursday in New York.