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ANHOT Open Hardware Lab · Independent research

Hack a MicroDuck

An open-source biped you can retrain. We are documenting the real BOM, testing cheaper actuators, and publishing what actually works — including the parts that do not.

Browse components Enter the servo lab

Independent project. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Pollen Robotics. Official product facts link back to pollen-robotics.com.

AI concept illustration of a compact biped robot on an engineering workbenchConcept illustration
AI-generated concept illustration. Not an official MicroDuck photo, and not a claim about its exact appearance.
Motors
15
Height
25 cm
Weight
800 g
Trained moves
7
Onboard policy loop
50 Hz
Software license
Apache-2.0

01 · Why this exists

A $399 robot is cheap. Rebuilding it from parts is not.

The official MicroDuck is an open-source biped trained with reinforcement learning. It ships with 15 motors, a camera, LiDAR, two IMUs and seven trained policies. We are not re-selling it. We are answering a different question: what does it actually take to build, modify, and understand one — and where do cheaper parts stop being cheap?

Kit price

$399Pre-order, before tax and shipping · observed 2026-10-21

A finished robot with software, battery, controller and a game controller in the box.

Reference actuators only

$412.3515 × $27.49 recorded unit price · excludes tax and shipping

The servos alone already exceed the kit price. Everything else — controller, sensors, battery, structure — is still unpriced in our catalog.

Catalog completeness

9%1 of 11 reference BOM lines have a recorded price

We show the gap instead of hiding it. A total that silently treats unknowns as zero is fiction.

Scopes are different. The $399 kit includes assembly, software, calibration and support. A self-sourced BOM is a pile of parts plus your time. The calculator keeps parts, modifications, shipping, tax and one-time engineering effort separate.

02 · Status board

What we know, what we suspect, what we have not tested

Evidence level (how credible the source is) and compatibility status (whether a part has been proven to work) are separate axes. Every claim in this section carries one of each.

Bench tests

0No ANHOT test record exists yet

Robot tests

0No candidate actuator has run on a robot

Sources

12Official, repository, vendor, community and news

Price observations

3Each with supplier, currency and observation date

Nothing here is “verified”. The strongest compatibility label currently published is “spec matched”, which means two datasheets were compared on paper. We do not publish “bench tested” or “robot tested” until a test record exists.

03 · Component map

Start from the BOM, not from a shopping list

Every line is classified by category, role and evidence strength. Reference parts are what the published robot uses. Alternatives are candidates, not drop-ins. Supporting parts exist only because an alternative needs them.

actuator

2 record(s)

compute

1 record(s)

sensor

3 record(s)

power

1 record(s)

mechanical

2 record(s)

cable

3 record(s)

electronics

1 record(s)

accessory

1 record(s)

AI concept illustration of an exploded-view robot with separated modules
AI-generated concept illustration, not a teardown of the official robot and not a parts diagram. The real visual documentation arrives with the first build.

04 · Servo lab preview

The obvious cost lever is also the riskiest

Fifteen actuators dominate the parts cost. A cheaper servo can look perfect on paper and still fail on mounting geometry, packet protocol, feedback scaling or closed-loop behaviour.

ReferenceOfficial

DYNAMIXEL XL330-M288-T

The reference actuator for the 15 powered joints. Compact serial-bus servo with position, velocity, current and temperature feedback.

Stall torque0.52 N·m @ 5 V
Speed103 rpm @ 5 V
Unit price$27.49
CandidateSpec matched

Feetech HD-1910-C001

Low-cost serial-bus servo marketed for MicroDuck-style joints. Candidate replacement for the reference actuator; not yet bench-tested by ANHOT.

Vendor torque claim≈0.98 N·m @ 6 V
Street price¥45 observed
RiskHIGH
Paper match ≠ working robot. Mounting pattern, connector pinout, bus protocol, firmware support and gait policy all require work. The full comparison and the required modifications are in the Servo Lab.
Open the Servo Lab

05 · Cost calculator

Change a price. Watch the honesty of the total change with it.

Switch BOM versions, edit quantities and prices, add adapter and engineering costs, and compare against the reference configuration. Unpriced lines are counted, not zeroed. Savings can be negative.

  • Per-currency subtotals using a recorded PBOC reference rate (1 USD = 6.7192 CNY).
  • Completeness bar and unpriced-line count on every result.
  • CSV export of the current configuration.
  • Drafts saved locally in your browser, not on a server.
AI concept illustration of a serial-bus servo and calipers on a workbench
AI-generated concept illustration, not a photo of the reference or candidate part.

06 · Three routes

Where the cost can actually come from

Every route trades money for work. None is “free”, and Route C is a research direction, not a recommendation.

Route A Reference

Use the reference actuator family.

  • Lowest integration risk
  • Highest parts cost
  • Closest to the published behaviour

Route B Candidate

Replace with a low-cost serial-bus servo.

  • Large parts saving on paper
  • Adapter, harness and firmware work
  • Mounts and gait retraining required
  • Currently untested

Route C Hypothesis

Generic PWM servo plus a driver board.

  • Lowest component cost
  • No position/current feedback comparable to a bus servo
  • Wire count and control-loop rewrite
  • No part selected; research only

07 · Sources

Everything we cite

Retrieved 2026-10-21. Prices are observations, not offers. Official facts and community claims are labelled separately throughout.

FX reference: PBOC central parity: 1 USD = 6.7192 CNY (2026-10-21).

Build one with us — or tell us we are wrong

We publish test plans, failures and corrections. If you have a measured result, a better source, or a build that disagrees with this catalog, send it over. Evidence beats confidence.

Contact the lab

Independence and trademarks. Hack a MicroDuck is an independent engineering and open-hardware research initiative by ANHOT. It is not an official Pollen Robotics product, service, or endorsement. Product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. Hardware configurations, compatibility findings, and cost estimates may be based on public documentation, community research, and independent testing. Always review the cited sources and verify hardware specifications before building. Software referenced in this section is published under Apache-2.0; that license does not extend to images, trademarks, mechanical designs, or third-party assets. AI concept illustrations are labelled and are not product photographs. Prices are observations, not quotes, and may change without notice.