Hugging Face’s Pollen Robotics just unveiled Microduck, a sub-10-inch bipedal robot available for preorder at $399. The open-source bot can rollerskate, retrieve items, and follow laser pointers, all while generating a permanent unique voice on its very first boot. It is basically an affordable, hackable robotic pet built for both play and AI experimentation.
Hugging Face and Pollen Robotics just introduced Reachy Mini, a desktop open-source robot kit starting at $399. Built for AI tinkerers, it features an expressive 6-DOF head, camera, microphones, and a full Python SDK compatible with Hugging Face models. Why it matters: It makes physical AI research and multimodal experimentation accessible to indie devs without a lab-grade budget.
Hugging Face just unveiled HopeJR, a full-size open-source humanoid with 66 degrees of freedom priced around $3,000, and Reachy Mini, a $300 desktop unit for testing AI apps. Built with Pollen Robotics tech, both aim to keep robotics out of proprietary black boxes, with early shipments slated for late 2025.
Hugging Face just acquired French startup Pollen Robotics to accelerate its push into embodied AI. The company plans to sell Pollen's humanoid robot, Reachy 2, while letting developers download and improve its open codebase. It marks a major step in bringing open-source collaboration directly to physical robot hardware.
