Hugging Face just launched Microduck, a $399 open source biped robot built by Pollen Robotics. It is designed less like a traditional toy and more like an inexpensive robotics learning platform. Users can train movements in simulation using reinforcement learning, then transfer those learned behaviors to the real machine. Microduck also includes a camera, LiDAR, motion sensors and onboard computing. That combination matters. For years, serious robotics experimentation required expensive hardware and specialized labs. Products like this begin pushing physical AI into the hands of students, developers and independent researchers. The next robotics boom may not start with a $100,000 humanoid. It may start with a $399 robot on someone’s desk. #AI #Robotics #HuggingFace #ReinforcementLearning #MacroSift