Hugging Face, a prominent AI development platform, has announced the availability of its latest innovation: the Reachy Mini desktop robots. These devices are designed to provide developers with a hands-on platform for building and testing artificial intelligence applications.
Product Overview
The Reachy Mini comes in two distinct models:
1. Reachy Mini Wireless: Priced at $449, this wireless version operates on a Raspberry 5 mini computer, offering flexibility and portability for developers.
2. Reachy Mini Lite: At a more affordable $299, this model requires a connection to an external computing source, catering to those who prefer or already possess compatible hardware setups.
Both models are open-source and arrive as kits, allowing developers to assemble them. Once constructed, the robots are approximately the size of a standard stuffed animal, featuring two screen-based eyes and dual antennas, giving them a distinctive and approachable appearance.
Technical Specifications and Integration
Developers can program the Reachy Minis using Python, a widely-used programming language in the AI community. Each robot comes pre-installed with a suite of demonstrations to showcase its capabilities. Furthermore, they are integrated with the Hugging Face Hub, the company’s open-source machine learning platform. This integration grants users access to an extensive library of over 1.7 million AI models and more than 400,000 datasets, facilitating a rich environment for experimentation and development.
Development and Community Feedback
The decision to offer two versions of the Reachy Mini was influenced by early user feedback. Clém Delangue, CEO of Hugging Face, recounted an instance where a tester’s five-year-old daughter expressed a desire to carry the robot around the house. This insight highlighted the need for a portable, wireless version. Delangue emphasized the company’s commitment to incorporating community feedback, stating, The goal in the future is to keep carefully getting a lot of feedback like that from users, from the community, that’s how we’ve always been building products at Hugging Face as an open source community platform.
By maintaining an open-source approach, Hugging Face encourages users to extend, modify, and customize the robots to suit their specific needs. This philosophy aims to foster a collaborative environment where developers can share their creations and innovations with the broader community.
Target Audience and Applications
The primary audience for the Reachy Mini robots is AI developers seeking a tangible platform to code, build, and test AI applications. Delangue highlighted the potential for community-driven development, noting that users can create unique features and applications for the Reachy Mini and share them with others. This collaborative approach is intended to unleash the creativity of builders, leading to a diverse array of applications and features that can be easily integrated and utilized by the community.
Shipping and Availability
The Reachy Mini Lite is scheduled to begin shipping next month, with the wireless version following later this year. Hugging Face aims to expedite the delivery process to ensure that developers can start working with the robots promptly, avoiding prolonged pre-order periods with uncertain timelines.
Commitment to Open-Source Robotics
This release aligns with Hugging Face’s broader mission to promote open-source hardware, granting users complete control over their devices. Delangue expressed concerns about a future where robotics is dominated by closed-source systems controlled by a few companies. He advocates for an open ecosystem that allows users to understand and control the technology they bring into their homes, emphasizing the importance of transparency and user autonomy in the evolving field of robotics.
