Recently, the renowned AI platform HuggingFace has entered the field of intelligent robots and launched the open-source desktop robot Reachy Mini, which quickly sparked a craze. This compact robot achieved sales of over 130,000 euros (approximately 1.09 million yuan) within just five hours, which is astonishing. For the wired version of Reachy Mini Lite priced at 299 dollars and the wireless version of Reachy Mini priced at 499 dollars, consumers have expressed eagerness to place orders, and the price can be said to be comparable to that of an Apple Watch.
Reachy Mini stands 28 centimeters tall and weighs 1.5 kilograms. Its movable head and rotating body design make its appearance more lively and interesting. On its small body, it is equipped with a six-degree-of-freedom head movement, full-body rotation, wide-angle camera, multiple microphones, and a 5-watt speaker, as well as wobbly antennas. Although it does not have hands, its modular design allows it to have good application prospects in demonstrations, teaching, and testing robot behaviors.
The core of the wireless version of Reachy Mini is the Raspberry Pi5, which supports Wi-Fi connectivity and can be powered by batteries. It also increases the number of microphones, giving it more comprehensive sensing and interaction capabilities. Users can get started quickly with 15 preset actions built-in, and they can also share and download new robot behaviors in the HuggingFace community to expand the robot's functions. This means that Reachy Mini is not only a cute toy but also a learning platform that can interact with AI models.
HuggingFace, an artificial intelligence platform valued at 4.5 billion dollars, has not only excelled in machine learning models and datasets, but has also recently increased its investment in the robotics field. Previously, they launched the LeRobot project, aiming to help users train algorithms on low-cost robot platforms and lower the development barrier. Earlier this year, HuggingFace acquired PollenRobotics, a humanoid robot startup, continuing to expand its presence in the robotics field.
Although low-cost robots face challenges in practicality and application scenarios, Reachy Mini from HuggingFace provides users with more possibilities and creative space through its open-source philosophy and community-driven approach. Although product iterations may gradually eliminate the price advantage, Reachy Mini is undoubtedly an important step for HuggingFace in exploring the field of intelligent robots.