Hugging Face on Thursday announced “Microduck,” a small, armless robot capable of waddling adorably and picking up small objects with an articulated beak that doubles as a gripper. The move is an effort to put a friendly, approachable face on a robotics field dominated by attack dogs and humanoids. The $399 duck-like robot comes in several colors and is packed with sensors including an eye-like camera, speaker, microphone, WiFi, Bluetooth, and even a small lidar sensor. Microduck will come with several preset behaviors, such as being able to follow a laser pointer. In sample videos, Hugging Face showed Microduck picking up a dirty sock, rollerblading and recovering from falls and efforts to push it off balance. However, the target audience is AI developers who can teach the robot new tricks. The company aims to deliver the first robots before Christmas, with preorders starting today.

Full report : Hugging Face unveils Microduck, a $400, 1.7lb, 10-inch-tall bipedal robot developed in part by Pollen Robotics and manufactured by Shenzhen-based Seeed Studio.