🦆 Microduck: The Tiny Biped You Can Teach

Presented by Pollen Robotics in collaboration with Hugging Face, Microduck is more than just a gadget—it is a 25 cm open-source bipedal platform designed for those who want to dive into the world of reinforcement learning (RL).

It's not just a toy $\rightarrow$ It's a programmable companion.

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📅 Pre-Order Details

Get ready to bring your own duck to life. Mark your calendars for the launch:

• Pre-order Date: August 27, 2026
• Price: $399 (excluding taxes and shipping)
• Delivery: Guaranteed to ship before Christmas 2026
• Philosophy: Fully Open Source

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🧠 The Sim2Real Pipeline

Microduck utilizes a "twin" system where behaviors are perfected in a virtual environment before being uploaded to the physical hardware.

How it Works

Every movement the robot makes is a policy that you can modify and retrain on your own hardware or via Hugging Face Jobs.

1. Simulation: Use physics-based sims to teach the robot.
2. Deployment: Move from the digital twin to the physical bot in one step.
3. Sharing: Upload your custom policies for others to use.

"Waking up the duck..." — Experience the seamless transition from simulated training to real-world execution.

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🤸 Capabilities & Tricks

The Microduck comes pre-loaded with 7 trained moves, including:

• Sit & Stand: The ability to lower itself, maintain a pose, and rise again.
• Grab: A sequence where it dips its beak to scoop an object and pops back up.
• Roller Skating: Specialized locomotion enabled when skates are attached.
• Self-Righting: If it falls flat on its back, it can stand up independently.

To optimize these movements, the RL training stack focuses on maximizing a reward function, often represented as: $R = \sum_{t=0}^{T} \gamma^t r_t$

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🎨 Customization & Packages

Choose from four distinct colourways. While the aesthetic changes, the internal "brains" and hardware remain identical.

Purchase Options

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🛠️ Technical Specifications

The Microduck is built for performance and transparency.

Hardware Specs:

• Height: 25 cm
• Weight: 800 g
• Actuators: 15 Motors
• Sensors: Camera, LiDAR, and two IMUs
• Processing: 50 Hz onboard policy loop

Software Stack:

• License: Apache-2.0 (Permissive)
• Physics Engine: MuJoCo
• Repository: pollen-robotics/microduck on GitHub

Developer Interface

You can manage your robot via the command line using robotctl:

# Check the current status of the robot
ssh microduck $ robotctl monitor

# Adjust robot settings
ssh microduck $ robotctl configure

# Push the latest software updates
ssh microduck $ robotctl update

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🤝 Join the Flock

Whether you are looking for new policies to swap or need help when a leg behaves unexpectedly, the community is here for you.

• Join the Discord server
• Explore the SDK on GitHub
• Pre-order your unit

End of tape $\dots$ be kind, rewind.

Pre-orders are officially open now for $399 in four stunning colors!