Hugging Face has introduced the Microduck, a small duck-like robot available for $399, with orders shipping before Christmas. Clem Delangue, CEO of Hugging Face, stated that the Microduck is an “open-source robot you can teach new tricks with reinforcement learning.”
The 25-centimeter-tall robot is capable of actions such as waddling, picking up objects weighing up to 800 grams with its beak, recovering from falls, crouching, and roller skating. It uses a camera, lidar sensors, and two inertial measurement units (IMUs) to perceive its surroundings.
Developers can train the Microduck's behaviours in simulation and then deploy them directly onto the robot. The software development kit (SDK), simulation tools, and the full reinforcement learning training stack are accessible on GitHub for fine-tuning, re-training, and re-deployment.
Hugging Face, known for its open model weights platform, acquired French startup Pollen Robotics in April 2025 to focus on affordable, open-source AI hardware. This collaboration previously led to the launch of the Reachy Mini desktop robot.