Tiny Robot, Big Possibilities: Meet Hugging Face’s Microduck

While humanoid robots dominated attention at the Robot Olympics in Beijing with displays of sprinting, martial arts and obstacle clearing, Hugging Face has introduced a much smaller and more playful machine. Called Microduck, the biped robot stands just 25 centimetres tall, weighs up to 800 grams and is priced at $399. It features more than 15 motors, a camera, lidar sensors and two inertial measurement units to help it interact with its surroundings and regain balance after falling.

Microduck comes with seven pre-trained movements, including walking, sitting, standing, kicking, picking up objects with its beak, roller-skating and getting back on its feet after falling onto its back. Its biggest attraction is its open-source design, which allows users and developers to train new behaviours using reinforcement learning, fine-tune the robot and redeploy updated models. Hugging Face has also made the SDK, simulation environment and reinforcement-learning training stack available on GitHub. Pre-orders opened on August 27, with shipments expected before Christmas 2026. The robot will be offered in four colour combinations, with accessories such as additional batteries, chargers, spare motors and roller attachments available separately.