Hugging Face and Pollen Robotics announced the launch of Microduck, an open-source, duck-shaped bipedal robot, on Thursday [1].
The release provides a low-cost entry point for developers to experiment with robotics and AI training. By making the hardware and software open-source, the companies aim to democratize the development of physical AI agents.
The Microduck stands 25 centimeters tall [4] and weighs 1.7 pounds [5]. It is manufactured in Shenzhen, China, by Seeed Studio [3]. The robot is designed as a tool for developers to "quack the AI code" [1], serving as a tangible platform for testing machine learning models in a physical environment.
Pricing for the device is listed at $399 [1], though some reports indicate a price of $400 [3]. This price point positions the Microduck as an accessible alternative to high-end industrial robotics kits.
As an open-source project, the Microduck allows users to modify its design and software. This approach encourages a community-driven ecosystem where developers can share improvements, and new capabilities for the bipedal robot.
The collaboration between Hugging Face, known for its AI model repository, and Pollen Robotics leverages a combination of software expertise and hardware manufacturing. By partnering with Seeed Studio, the project ensures a scalable production pipeline for the bipedal units.
“The duck-shaped bipedal robot costs $399 and provides developers a platform for training AI and robotics code.”
The launch of Microduck signals a shift toward 'embodied AI,' where large language models are integrated into physical forms to interact with the real world. By lowering the financial and technical barriers to entry, Hugging Face is attempting to build a standardized hardware baseline for the AI community, similar to how the company has standardized model sharing for software.
