Hugging Face has never been shy about putting hardware where its algorithms are, and its Bordeaux-based subsidiary Pollen Robotics just delivered the strangest example yet: the Microduck, a bipedal robot that walks, waddles and — with an optional set of wheels — even roller-skates. It was unveiled on August 27, 2026, with an introductory price of US$399 before taxes and shipping.
At 25 cm (9.8 inches) tall and weighing less than 800 grams (1.8 pounds), the Microduck is small enough to sit on a desk but ambitious enough to move around on two legs. Powering all that motion are 15 motors, coordinated to keep the little machine upright while it performs its repertoire. Out of the box, it ships with seven trained moves and a game controller, so you can start ordering it about without writing a single line of code.
For a robot that leans into cuteness — it has a single expressive eye — the sensor stack is more serious than the toy-store aesthetic suggests. The Microduck packs a camera, lidar sensors and two inertial measurement units (IMUs), giving it the spatial awareness needed to balance, navigate and eventually learn new behaviors. That combination of perception hardware and precise actuation is exactly the sort of platform researchers and hobbyists have been begging for at an accessible price.
The real hook, unsurprisingly given the Hugging Face pedigree, is openness. The Microduck’s software is open source, which means the seven canned routines are just a starting point. Developers can dig into the code, retrain it, bolt on their own models and turn this waddling companion into an experimental testbed for embodied AI. In a market crowded with sealed-box gadgets, that’s a genuinely refreshing proposition.
Want to keep things playful? The optional wheels transform the Microduck from a two-legged walker into a roller-skater, a nice bit of mechanical showmanship that also hints at how flexible the platform is meant to be.
Pre-orders are open now across North America, Europe and the UK, in four color options:
- Cream
- Graphite
- Lavender
- Sky
First deliveries are expected before Christmas 2026. Whether you see it as a research tool, a coding playground or simply the most over-engineered rubber duck ever made, the Microduck is a clear statement of intent: Hugging Face wants its open-source philosophy to walk on two legs — and, if you buy the wheels, to skate.
