Hugging Face's Microduck is a $399 robot that roller skates

This article was published on August 31, 2026 Hugging Face's Pollen Robotics has put its $399 Microduck up for preorder, a 25cm robot duck that walks, roller skates and picks up socks. The software stack is open source. The hardware is not, and it cannot lift much more than 100 grams. Nvidia is reportedly buying the parent. Pollen says Microduck is ten times more fun in groups, and that races and football are what made it feel alive in testing. Pollen Robotics has unveiled a bipedal robot called Microduck, at an introductory price of $399 before taxes and shipping. The Bordeaux company is owned by the AI platform Hugging Face. Its new machine has one eye and 15 motors, stands 25cm tall, and weighs under 800g. Preorders opened on Thursday. Pollen is targeting first deliveries before Christmas 2026 in North America, Europe and the UK. The robot walks, crouches, rights itself when it falls, and picks small objects up with its beak. Videos on the launch post show it collecting socks and a marker pen. An optional accessory pack adds wheeled feet so it can roller skate, along with a ball, an NFC chip and tags, and a laser pointer it follows with its camera. Microduck runs on a Rockchip R