Hugging Face Launches $399 Open-Source Microduck Robot Ahead of Christmas
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Hugging Face introduced the Microduck, a $399 open-source duck robot, on Thursday, with shipping expected before Christmas. CEO Clem Delangue described the Microduck as a robot that can be taught new tricks through reinforcement learning, featuring capabilities such as waddling, picking up objects, and roller skating.
The Microduck, measuring 25 centimeters tall, is designed to democratize physical AI and world models. It is equipped with a camera, lidar sensors, and inertial measurement units (IMUs) for perception. Developers can train the robot's behaviors in simulation and deploy them directly, with an SDK and full reinforcement learning training stack available on GitHub.
As Hugging Face prepares for a potential acquisition by Nvidia at a $13 billion valuation, the launch of the Microduck highlights the company's commitment to open-source AI. The partnership with Nvidia has been ongoing since at least 2023, emphasizing the importance of open-source models in ensuring privacy and control for developers and users alike. No further timeline was disclosed at the time of publication.
Original report
Hugging Face is selling a cute $399 open-source duck robot, Microduck
TechCrunch · Rebecca BellanThis briefing is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting and is provided for industry information and news discovery. The original report and source publication are credited and linked where applicable. RobotToday does not claim ownership of third-party source material.
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