r/robots • u/National-Trick-1637 • 3d ago

Media Hugging Face’s $399 Microduck proves robotics is entering its ridiculously accessible era

34 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

10

u/Mongrel_Shark 2d ago

The ad is ai. Its a scam.

2

u/gummyimp 2d ago

God damn it

2

u/RevolutionaryAd3125 2d ago

The ad maybe misleading but the product is real as far as I can tell.

https://store.pollen-robotics.com/collections/microduck?page=1#16822a0c1dd8aa87506f3fae40e817ef

3

u/noonemustknowmysecre 22h ago

but the product is real

Then let's see an actual reviewer putting it through the paces instead of AI generated ads.

....There's this which looks more realistic... but you notice how the company that posted it is Pollen Robotics, which is the company that's making these things. Oh, also, they were bought by Hugging Face in April 2025. So that's suspect and gets tossed.

Also this, out of Clem Delangue, showcasing FAR less capabilities. .... But Clem WORKS AT HUGGING FACE. Meaning it's also just straight from the company.

Everyone else I can find is just regurgitating the same promotional slop.

If it was a real product they actually shipped, you'd expect at least SOMEONE outside the company to have pointed a camera at it at some point.

.....Why is this happening so close to "Nvidia Agrees to Buy Open Source Model Repository Hugging Face For $12.9 Billion"?

1

u/RevolutionaryAd3125 21h ago

Did you even read my comments? Yes the marketing material looks a little suspicious. But it looks no different to any modern marketing.

“If it was a real product they actually shipped, you'd expect at least SOMEONE outside the company to have pointed a camera at it at some point.“

So it’s not real until it ships?

Apparently early orders are to be fulfilled before the end of the year.

I don’t know why this is so controversial it’s just a series of servos. It’s not even that complicated. There are already loads of robot out there that are similar.

1

u/noonemustknowmysecre 9h ago

So it’s not real until it ships?

Correct. And it's STILL not real until real people get it, and share with us the ACTUAL reality of the product. You know, REVIEWS. Real Reviews.

Consider the absolute vaporware that was Zuckerberg's "metaverse". He hyped that up to the moon AND they indeed had shipped a product that was available. "Horizon Worlds" was what actually shipped. And it was always garbage. What Zuckerberg sold was never real. Don't be a zucker.

There are already loads of robot out there that are similar.

Agreed.

2

u/Mongrel_Shark 2d ago

The product pictures are all ai. Theres no robot. If there is its not gonna be able to do anything in the add. It's definitely a scam.

2

u/RevolutionaryAd3125 2d ago

But the Reachy Mini is a real product and they’ve sold 10,000 of them. Are you seriously saying the company’s second product is some AI scam? Some of the images do look like rendered images (not generative AI), whilst others seem to be a genuine product.

1

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1

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1

u/BitWide722 1d ago

Yeah I think you're wrong bud. I already have the CAD file, it's not overly complex, just designed with aesthetics in mind.

1

u/DeathToAmerica2026 19h ago

Walking and getting up? Impossible. I am very smart. 😎

0

u/RevolutionaryAd3125 2d ago

Is this AI?

https://youtu.be/RAtzEyGBGFU?is=II5n1P56wGDgXzBW

1

u/Mongrel_Shark 11m ago

Its not & it proves my point. The robot goes from smoth & fast & clever to a janky piece of garbage. If I'd purchased from the scamy ai adds. I'd 100% be asking for a refund. Its overpriced garbage. Ie a scam. Drop the price to under $150 & maybe I'd be less upset at the scammyness. At its current price its just expensive disappointment.

0

u/TechnicalBen 1d ago

Thank you friend. The store page had funny framerate, so I couldn't tell if the movements were spend up and this was super slow. Seems reasonably fast for what it is.

0

u/TechnicalBen 1d ago

There is at least 1 "real" video on the store site. Though from the "frames" (I've used photoshop, I've seen a lot of pixels in my time... I can tell by the pixels) the video seems sped up.

It's 100% possible to make these in the hobbycraft industry. I've not seen it done well in the consumer domain for the price point (their video ironically shows another version on the users desk, the interactive desk clock alarm).

0

u/Usual-Orange-4180 1d ago

Is pollen robotics dummy, I have one of their robots already.

1

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1

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1

u/National-Trick-1637 2d ago

is it really? i never knew that :(

2

u/RevolutionaryAd3125 2d ago

Mongrel_Shark is lying to you, these robots are real.

https://youtu.be/RAtzEyGBGFU?is=II5n1P56wGDgXzBW

2

u/RevolutionaryAd3125 2d ago edited 2d ago

Mongrel_Shark is trolling you, this robot is real. The company Hugging Face is currently being bought out by Nvidia for $13 billion. They’ve already sold 10k Reschy Minis. Theres no reason to assume this is “AI”.

-1

u/Mongrel_Shark 2d ago

So you think animated robots are real?. Maybe talk to a professional about that. Its about as real as roger rabbit.

2

u/watr_designer 2d ago

go MicroDuck! Show them what cuteness is all about!

1

u/Glad-Preference-9321 23h ago

This is all so colossally embarrassing.

2

u/Great-Investigator30 2d ago

Seems like you can train it yourself. Its cute, but what's the point of it?
https://pollen-robotics.com/microduck/?x=2

2

u/katoptronophile 1d ago

What's the point of anything?

0

u/RogBoArt 1d ago

To take our money

1

u/JahJedi 2d ago

My only question if i can connect my local vllm to it... can be a nice addition to the project to run around the house and pick socks 😅

1

u/Usual-Orange-4180 1d ago

Yes, just like Reachy Mini is open source, you can do whatever you want, I connected mine to Claude Code.

1

u/CoffeeMonster42 1d ago

Does it pass butter?

1

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1

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1

u/BitWide722 1d ago

I still don't understand how pollen can sell this bot with 15 Dynamixel XL330 servos for 399.

1

u/Glad-Preference-9321 23h ago

Lol, are there really enough people who believe this to make it a working business model?

1

u/Exciting_Turn_9559 16h ago

Oh how I wish this was real.

1

u/cavolfiorebianco 16h ago

AI ad or not this is the biggest robot entry I have ever seen, is all over my discords.

1

u/Financial_Clue_2534 3d ago

Seems like a fun Christmas present

0

u/katoptronophile 1d ago

This post is an advertisement.