Hugging Face's $399 Microduck robot waddles and skates
The 25-centimeter biped lifts up to 800 grams with its beak and learns new tricks through reinforcement learning in simulation first.
Illustration: a small one-eyed bipedal robot glides on miniature roller skates across a bright, sunlit workshop floor.
Hugging Face has opened preorders for the Microduck, a 25-centimeter open source robot duck priced at $399 that the company says will ship before Christmas.
At a glance
- Priced at $399, preorders opened August 27, 2026, shipping before Christmas per Hugging Face.
- A 25-centimeter one-eyed biped, offered in cream, graphite, lavender and sky blue.
- On board: one camera, lidar sensors and two IMUs for orientation tracking.
- The beak carries up to 800 grams; the robot waddles, crouches, roller-skates and rights itself after a fall.
- SDK, simulation and the reinforcement learning training stack are published on GitHub.
Hugging Face introduced the Microduck on August 27, 2026: a 25-centimeter robot shaped like a duck, now open for preorder at $399. It was built by Pollen Robotics, the French robotics team Hugging Face acquired in April 2025. The company says shipments begin before Christmas.
What it does
The Microduck walks on two legs and has a single eye. It waddles, crouches, roller-skates, and pushes itself back upright after falling over. Its beak grips and carries objects weighing up to 800 grams.
Perception comes from one camera, lidar sensors and two inertial measurement units. Those two IMUs supply the orientation data a bipedal machine needs to stay balanced while moving.
Open by default
The SDK, the simulation environment and the full reinforcement learning training stack sit on GitHub. Owners can train a behavior in simulation and then push it onto the hardware directly. CEO Clem Delangue framed the launch as the start of an "era of open-source affordable robots" meant to widen access to physical AI and world models.
The second device after Reachy Mini
This is not the company's first small robot. Reachy Mini arrived in July 2025 at $499 for the Raspberry Pi version and $399 for the Reachy Mini Lite, which runs off a Mac or PC. The Microduck matches the Lite on price but moves around a room under its own power.
What the reporting leaves open
Neither report gives battery life, on-board compute or a specific delivery date. Sales figures for Reachy Mini are also absent. The color options come from The Verge's story, which this newsroom could access only as a short excerpt and therefore could not fully cross-check.
FAQ
How much does the Hugging Face Microduck cost?
It costs $399. Preorders opened on August 27, 2026, and Hugging Face says shipping starts before Christmas.
How big is the Microduck and how much can it lift?
It stands 25 centimeters tall and can lift objects of up to 800 grams with its beak.
Is the Microduck actually open source?
The SDK, simulation and reinforcement learning training stack are on GitHub. The sources do not spell out licensing terms for the hardware itself.
