Pollen Robotics’ Microduck is designed to simplify and reduce the costs of training physical AI systems, making the process less delicate.

      Microduck is a compact biped priced at $399, designed for developers to explore physical AI, providing an economical method to train and evaluate new robotic behaviors without the risk of damaging costly equipment.

      Pollen Robotics has teamed up again with Hugging Face to introduce a new robot that is charmingly eccentric. Microduck stands 25cm tall and is designed to bring AI from the screen to your workspace. Preorders have begun today, with the first units expected to be delivered before Christmas 2026.

      In contrast to its predecessor, Reachy Mini, Microduck is focused entirely on action. It operates on 15 motors and features an articulated beak for holding objects, a camera, a depth sensor, two IMUs, and sufficient balance to walk, crouch, and even roller-skate.

      Designed to withstand falls

      Training movement models in real-world settings often entails significant expenses for hardware and costly repairs when mishaps occur. Microduck changes this scenario. Measuring around 10 inches by 5.5 inches and weighing under two pounds, it is small enough that a fall results in a minor sound rather than a financial setback.

      What’s even more impressive is that it can stand back up after most falls, eliminating the need for constant supervision during behavior testing. Pollen Robotics indicates that its duck-like look and waddling motion were unplanned outcomes of its design, which the company embraced.

      Although Microduck has a playful appearance, it is not specifically aimed at children. Its target audience consists of developers looking to train physical behaviors, making it a user-friendly testbed for sim-to-real machine learning.

      More than just a novelty item

      Out of the box, Microduck offers gamepad controls, laser-following, and seven pre-programmed movements. Each unit even generates its own voice the first time it starts up. At first glance, it might resemble a desk toy more than a development kit. However, the underlying technology is intended for developers who are training their own behaviors.

      Pollen Robotics has made the SDK, the robot's software, and its reinforcement learning and sim-to-real tools available on GitHub. The aim is to foster collaborative development of physical hardware similar to open-source software, simplifying the process for developers to share trained neural network models, training methods, and custom environments in the same manner as they exchange language models.

      Microduck comes in four color options: Cream, Graphite, Lavender, and Sky, and is now available for pre-order at $399, excluding taxes and shipping fees. For those eager to start the training process without waiting for the hardware, Pollen Robotics has also released an interactive browser-based simulator to begin testing code immediately.