Overview
- Pollen Robotics, a Hugging Face subsidiary, opened Microduck preorders as a $399 teachable, bipedal robot with planned shipments before Christmas 2026 but strong demand has pushed new orders into backorder and delayed delivery windows.
- The 25 cm, ~800 g Microduck uses 15 motors plus a camera, depth sensor, two IMUs, a mic and speaker and can pick up small objects with a grasping beak.
- Pollen says more than 10,000 units have sold since launch, which at the $399 price would equal roughly $4 million in revenue, while at least one outlet reported a larger, less-verified $26 million orders figure and broader backorder claims.
- Microduck runs on-device compute using Rockchip’s RK3566 chip, which incorporates ARM-licensed technology, a detail that reporters say links the product’s availability to global chip supply chains.
- The product pairs an open-source SDK and sim-to-real reinforcement-learning stack with an affordable, playful design intended to lower barriers for students and hobbyists and could push other makers to offer similar low-cost physical-AI platforms.