Hugging Face’s Pollen Robotics opens preorders for Microduck robot

In short: Hugging Face’s Pollen Robotics has announced Microduck, a small robot duck that people can preorder now for $399.

What happened

Pollen Robotics, a robotics team connected to Hugging Face, has introduced its second small “cute” robot called Microduck. The company says the one-eyed, two-legged robot stands just under 10 inches tall.

Microduck is available to preorder for $399. It comes in four colors: cream, graphite, lavender, and sky blue. Pollen Robotics says it plans to start shipping the robot before Christmas 2026.

In demo videos shared by Pollen Robotics, Microduck can pick up small items like socks and markers, kick a ball, and move around on tiny rollerskates. The company also says Microduck can react to its surroundings and follow a laser pointer, or a person can control it with a game controller.

Microduck can also make sounds and “sing.” Pollen Robotics says each Microduck gets its own unique, computer-generated voice the first time it turns on, and it keeps that voice for life.

The robot includes a camera and several sensors. These include motion sensors and LiDAR, which is a way of measuring distance using light (like a bat using echoes, but with light instead of sound). The software is open-source, meaning people can view and change the code, and potentially teach the robot new behaviors.

Why it matters

Small robots like this are starting to look more like customizable gadgets than science projects. For buyers, open-source software can mean more control and more community-made features, but it can also mean the experience depends on how much time you want to spend tweaking settings.

Source: The Verge AI