Explainer
Robot vacuum docks and stations, explained
A dock began as somewhere to charge. Many now empty the robot’s bin, wash and dry its mops and refill its water. This page takes the modules one at a time.
Checked 3 October 2026
Builder
A dock, one module at a time
- ChargingCharges the robot and gives it a home position to return to.
- Bin emptyingDraws the dust out of the robot and stores it in a bag or a roomy bin inside the base.
- Mop washingRinses the mop pads in a tray, using the clean-water tank and sending dirty water to its own tank.
- Mop dryingBlows air over the washed pads so they are not left damp.
- Water refillTops up the robot’s onboard water for the next mopping run.
Charging
The plain charging dock
The plainest dock does two jobs: it charges the robot and gives it a known place to return to at the end of a run. Robots navigate back to it on their own, and many begin each clean from it.
Updates can depend on the dock too. Dyson’s 360 Vis Nav installs new software while it is idle, docked and online.
Emptying
Self-emptying bases
Self-emptying bases empty the robot’s bin each time it docks, so the bin itself rarely needs touching.
Two designs dominate. Tall bases from iRobot seal the debris into disposable bags, while many of Shark’s bases collect it in a clear bagless bin emptied by hand. A third, the Clean Station sold with some Jet Bot models, can be told to empty from the app.
Mopping
Mopping stations
Robots that mop need their pads cleaned, and the larger stations do it for them. A wash tray rinses the pads using water from a clean-water tank, and the dirty water goes into a separate tank in the station.
Newer stations from several makers go further, drying the pads after washing and refilling the robot’s own water reservoir. One early station, the first Freo, went as far as a touchscreen able to send the robot out and bring it back.
Upright floor washers
Upright floor washers have their own version of the idea. A Tineco machine stands in a tray where it charges and runs a self-cleaning cycle that flushes the roller, a cycle its app can control.
In the app
What stations report
Stations report through the robot’s app: whether the bin has been emptied, when a bag is full, how much water remains and whether a wash cycle is running.
That reporting depends on the robot being connected. When Neato’s cloud closed in October 2025, its robots lost app features but kept charging on their bases as before.