XGO-Duck: the open-source robot duck that kicked a ball

Over the weekend of 31 October to 1 November 2026, Luwu Dynamics posted a clip of XGO-Duck lining up and kicking a small ball. The clip became one of the top posts on r/arduino, and Circuit Digest covered it on 2 November 2026. XGO-Duck is an open-source, 3D-printable biped from the XGO robot-dog team, adapted from Pollen Robotics' Microduck. Pollen is Hugging Face's robotics team.

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Image: Luwu Dynamics.

Adapted from Microduck

Microduck is Pollen's finished robot, and XGO-Duck is Luwu's printable version. The build guide on the Arduino Project Hub was published on 16 October 2026. Circuit Digest reported the kick.

What AI does here

XGO-Duck walks on a neural-network policy trained with reinforcement learning. The published runtime does not drive the gait from a hand-tuned sequence of servo positions. ONNX policy inference runs at about 50 Hz on the Linux side of an Arduino UNO Q, the Qualcomm Dragonwing processor. The board's STM32 microcontroller runs the servo and IMU loop at about 100 Hz.

Three policies ship with the runtime: walking, getting back up after a fall, and a pick/peck action with the beak that takes about four seconds. Kick, sit-stand and roll exist in the training environment. They are not in the shipped runtime. Adding them means training on a PC with a CUDA GPU, using PPO in mjlab and the xgoduck_rl repository. A first build does not require training.

There is no voice chat and no camera. Camera, voice and time-of-flight sensing are planned extensions.

Hardware and the open files

Luwu's bill of materials specifies an Arduino UNO Q, 2GB or 4GB, a Luwu expansion board, and 15 Feetech 1910 (HD1910M) serial bus servos: 10 in the legs, 4 in the head and neck, and 1 for the beak. Sensing is a QMI8658A 6-axis IMU. The body is 3D-printed rigid parts, with TPU feet and beak, an 8.4V 18650 battery pack, bearings, and about 200 M2 screws.

Control is a browser page served by the robot: servo ID setup, joint calibration, and keyboard or joystick driving. The documented runtime does not require a cloud account. It runs on the local network.

STL files, PCB designs, the bill of materials and a 25-page assembly guide are in LuwuDynamics/xgoduck_hardware. Runtime code is in xgoduck_runtime_arduino. Training code is in xgoduck_rl.

On 2 October 2026 Luwu published a hardware correction. The old expansion PCB reversed GND and SIGNAL on three connectors. Owners of those early boards should follow the old-board wiring notes.

Sold in China, with no UK listing yet

Luwu sells a self-assembly electronics kit on its Chinese site, xgorobot.com/duck.html, at CNY 2,328, against a list price of CNY 2,828. As of 2 November 2026 there is no UK retailer, no Amazon UK listing, and no UK price. UK builders can source the parts from the open bill of materials.

Who it is for

Adult makers, and older teens of roughly 14 and over with an adult. Parental involvement is high: 3D printing, a lithium-ion pack, servo setup, Linux commands, charging and the terminal.

The 18650 pack needs the correct 8.4V charger, with someone present while it charges. Small parts and screws mean it is not a toy for young children. For a younger child, see best AI robots for kids or a beginner coding robot.

Data and privacy

Control stays on a browser page on the local network. There is no camera or microphone today, so no picture or voice leaves the device. If those extensions arrive, check what data leaves the robot before children share a room with it.

Similar robots on Amazon UK

XGO-Duck has no Amazon UK listing. The five below do, led by the board in the build. An adult supervises charging and small parts.

Arduino UNO Q 2GB

The 2GB board named in Luwu's build.

£50.24, in stock, sold by ARDUINO. Price correct as of 2 November 2026.

Check price on Amazon

Arduino UNO Q 4GB

The 4GB UNO Q. Luwu's guide accepts this board and the 2GB board.

£69.70, in stock, sold by ARDUINO. Price correct as of 2 November 2026.

Check price on Amazon

ELECFREAKS XGO V2 robot dog

Luwu's XGO dog, sold as an ELECFREAKS kit. The micro:bit is not included. See best robot dogs UK 2026.

£417.17. Only 11 left in stock. Sold by Amazon US, so check delivery and returns. Price correct as of 2 November 2026.

Check price on Amazon

SunFounder PiDog

Raspberry Pi robot-dog kit. The listing names a camera plus ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok. The Pi is not included.

£156.99, in stock, sold by MakerMaker. Price correct as of 2 November 2026.

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Anki Vector

Ready-built, with no assembly, for families who want an AI robot without the build. The listing says it drives itself, ChatGPT needs a subscription, and it has a camera and a microphone. See the Anki Vector 2.0 review.

£189.99, in stock, sold by Anki llc. Price correct as of 2 November 2026.

Check price on Amazon

FAQ

Do I have to train a neural network to build XGO-Duck?

No. Walking, getting up and the beak peck ship with the runtime. The kick is still a training job.

Can I buy XGO-Duck on Amazon UK?

No. Luwu sells the kit in China, in yuan. On 2 November 2026 there was no UK listing and no UK price.

What age is XGO-Duck for?

Adult makers, and teens of roughly 14 and over with an adult. It is not a toy for young children.

Related reading

Microduck from Pollen Robotics. Reachy Mini Level Up. Best robot dogs UK 2026. Best AI toys for teenagers. Best AI robots for kids. Best coding robots for beginners.