Hugging Face Launches Microduck, a Rollerskating Robot

Under Hugging Face’s umbrella, Pollen Robotics has launched MicroDuck, a small bipedal robot, opening pre-orders on August 27. Standing at 25 centimeters tall and weighing approximately 800 grams, it comes in four colorways—cream, graphite, lavender, and sky blue—with an introductory price of $399 USD before taxes and shipping fees. The first batch is scheduled for delivery across North America, Europe, and the UK by Christmas 2026. Powered by a Rockchip RK3566 processor, MicroDuck features 15 motors, cameras, mini depth sensors, and two IMUs. It can walk, sit up, recover from common falls, kick balls, and pick up objects using its movable beak; with roller skates attached, it can also glide. Users can control the robot via the included gamepad or command it to follow laser dots. The product's software development kit, physics simulation environment, and reinforcement learning training components have been open-sourced. Each unit generates a unique sonic identity upon initial boot-up, interacting with users through bio-like sounds rather than language. Officially positioned as an open robotics platform for AI developers and makers, it is also intended for teaching purposes and sim-to-real experiments.