Hugging Face unveils cute roller‑skating duck robot
google huggingface robotics
| Source: The Verge | Original article
Hugging Face’s Pollen Robotics unveiled the Microduck, a sub‑10‑inch, one‑eyed rollerskating AI robot, now on preorder for $399 in four colors, with shipments slated to begin soon.
Hugging Face’s robotics arm, Pollen Robotics, opened pre‑orders on Thursday for its second consumer robot, the Microduck. The under‑10‑inch, one‑eyed biped arrives in four pastel shades—cream, graphite, lavender and sky blue—and is priced at $399. The company says it will begin shipping the rollerskating duck before the Christmas rush.
The launch builds on the prototype unveiled in late August, when we first reported that Hugging Face was introducing a 1.7‑lb, open‑source biped. This round adds concrete purchasing options and a clearer timeline, positioning the Microduck as a low‑cost platform for hobbyists and educators to experiment with reinforcement‑learning‑driven behaviours. Demo videos released alongside the announcement show the robot picking up socks and markers, nudging a ball, and zipping around on tiny rollerskates, underscoring its capacity for user‑programmed tricks.
Why it matters is twofold. First, the price point under $400 makes a physically embodied AI agent accessible to a broader audience than typical research‑grade robots, potentially accelerating hands‑on learning in schools and maker communities. Second, the open‑source stance—highlighted by CEO Clem Delangue’s comment that the Microduck can be taught new tricks with reinforcement learning—reinforces Hugging Face’s strategy of democratizing AI development beyond cloud‑only models.
What to watch next includes the rollout of the accompanying SDK and community‑driven libraries that will enable custom behaviours, as well as any supply‑chain updates that could affect the promised pre‑Christmas delivery. Observers will also be keen to see how the device is adopted in educational curricula and whether it spurs a wave of affordable, programmable robots from other AI firms.
Sources
Back to AIPULSEN