The Microduck robot from Pollen Robotics (Hugging Face’s Bordeaux robotics crew) is a ~25 cm biped that walks, grasps with a beak, and even straps on roller skates like it has somewhere to be. At $399, it’s less “butler” and more “open-source desk creature you can train.”
Pre-orders opened late August 2026. First shipments were aimed before Christmas 2026—then demand (reports of 10,000+ units and millions in orders) shoved newer carts into a “maybe 4–6 months” reality. If you’re buying now, plan for a 2027 waddle unless your order landed in the early wave. Cute robots scale; supply chains sulk.
Microduck robot specs and party tricks
- Size / weight: about 25 cm tall, under ~800 g—desk-friendly
- Motion: 15 motors; walk, sit, crouch, recover from common falls
- Beak: articulated grasp for socks, markers, and other small chaos objects
- Sensors: camera, depth/LiDAR-class sensing, IMUs
- Compute: on-device brains (Rockchip RK3566 class) for local behaviors
- Software: open-source stack; train behaviors (including RL workflows) and share them Hugging Face–style
- Extras: roller skates, laser-pointer play, controller driving, weird little vocal identity per unit
- Colors: Cream, Graphite, Lavender, Sky
Out of the box it’s playful—kick a ball, chase a laser, pick up desk debris like a tiny janitor with opinions. Under the hood it’s a reinforcement-learning sandbox with feet. That’s the pitch that separates Microduck from pure toy bots: you’re supposed to teach it new nonsense and publish the recipe so someone else’s duck can learn your trick.
Is it going to fold laundry? No. Is it going to make your Discord friends ask “what is that thing skating behind you on the call?” Absolutely. Keep expectations in the “trainable companion / research toy” lane and you’ll have more fun than if you ordered a Roomba in a duck costume.
Price, pre-order timing, and the Christmas asterisk
Introductory price is $399 before tax/shipping via Pollen’s store. Early messaging targeted holiday 2026 delivery for first waves in North America, Europe, and the UK (with more regions listed at checkout). The live shop has since warned that new orders can’t promise Christmas and currently estimate roughly four to six months, first-ordered-first-shipped. Optional packs (batteries, play gear, spare parts) stack on top—check the cart before you “just grab a duck.”
Soft CTA: if you wanted Reachy Mini energy in a smaller, skater-ready form factor, Microduck is the one to watch. Pre-order if you’re patient and want in on the early flock; wait for hands-on reviews if you’re allergic to slip dates. Either way, clear a little floor space—those roller skates are not a metaphor.
Desk robots with attitude aren’t new either—Cozmo basically wrote the playbook for tiny bots with big personality.
And if pocket bipeds are your weakness, our older look at the world’s smallest humanoid robot is peak mini-walker nostalgia.