Tennant's first robot vacuum was tested in a school district

Tennant Company, the Minnesota floor machine maker that has been in the business since 1870, launched its first autonomous robotic vacuum on October 20. The P1 VAC vacuums, sweeps and dust mops on its own, and it is available to order now.

The detail that matters for anyone running a school is who tested it. Tennant's product testing partner was the Cumberland School District in Wisconsin, and the release says the district put it to work in gymnasiums and hallways.

The numbers

Tennant's product page lists the specifications:

• 17.25 in cleaning path, on a machine 17 in wide, 22 in long and 23 in tall
• 101 lbs
• Up to 3.5 hours of runtime in standard mode, with a 1.5-hour recharge
• 2.6 gal, or 10 L, of debris capacity split across 2 compartments
• A 20 kPa vacuum system
• As low as 62 dBA in its gentle mode
• Rated to navigate aisles 23 in wide and to make a U-turn in 35 in

The coverage field on the spec sheet, the square feet an hour, is blank. So is the price. Tennant does not publish either on the page, so we will not guess at them here.

The release calls the P1 VAC Tennant's "first autonomous soft-floor cleaner." Every robot Tennant sold before it was a hard-floor machine: scrubbers and sweepers. It is also the first model in a new P-Series, which Tennant says is meant to reach "more customer applications and price points."

The bigger number sits behind the product. Tennant says it plans to introduce 10 new products within 24 months to build a $250 million robotics equipment business by 2028. The company had $1.20 billion in sales in 2025. The same plan was in the release when it launched the X2 ROVR SCRUB in May, its smallest robotic scrubber.

What the school district said

The quote in the release comes from Brandon J., building and grounds director for Cumberland:

Before using the P1 VAC, routine vacuuming and dust mopping took a significant portion of our team's day, especially in high-use areas like our gymnasiums and hallways.

He says the district now automates those tasks and spends the time on maintenance projects. That is the honest pitch for every floor robot, from every maker. It does not replace the custodian. It takes the boring passes off the list so the crew can do the work a machine cannot.

What this means for a building in Utah

When a 156-year-old floor care maker spends its next launch on a small vacuum for schools, it tells you where the demand is. School districts, churches, offices and clinics are full of carpet, gym floors and long hallways that get vacuumed or dust mopped every night by hand. Those passes are the easiest thing in the building to hand to a robot, because the route is the same every night and nobody is upset if it runs at 62 dBA while the halls are empty.

A few things are worth asking about any robot vacuum before a facilities budget gets spent on it, whatever the brand.

Runtime against your route. 3.5 hours at standard power is a real number. Walk your longest hallway run and measure it. If the route is longer than one charge, the machine needs to dock and come back, and the schedule has to allow for the recharge.

Size against your doors and furniture. A 17 in wide machine fits between desks and into classrooms. A bigger machine covers open corridors faster but will not get under or between things. Most buildings have both kinds of floor, which is why fleets end up with more than 1 model.

Coverage in writing. If a spec sheet does not list square feet an hour, ask the dealer for it, and ask to see the machine run on your floor before you sign.

Who services it here. A robot that goes down in February needs someone within driving distance who can fix it, not a ticket to a call center.

For comparison, the robot vacuum we sell is the Pudu MT1 Vac. It sweeps, vacuums and dust mops on a 27.6 in path, Pudu rates it at 15,069 sq ft an hour, and it is $20,000 cash with RoboCare service at $200 a month. It is a bigger, heavier machine than the P1 VAC, about 33 by 23.6 in and 160.9 lbs, so it suits long open runs better than rooms packed with desks. Different machines for different rooms.

What to watch

Tennant reports third-quarter results on November 2, and that call is the place to listen for how its robotics business is tracking against the $250 million goal. Watch for the next P-Series model, since Tennant has said the series is aimed at more price points. And watch for the P1 VAC's coverage rating to show up on the spec sheet. Until a square-feet-an-hour figure is published, a buyer cannot size it against a building.

Robots in this story, sold and serviced from Provo: MT1 sweeper