In-Depth Yet Accessible Intro to Reachy Mini: Let's Meet This Cute Desktop Robot Companion!
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(Photo: Reachy Mini at Baobo’s home, sitting on a green placemat at the dining table, sporting cool sunglasses and flexible antennae, ready to interact!)
Hi everyone! I’m Ju-Chun Ko (Baobo). I recently got a super cute desktop robot Reachy Mini and couldn’t resist sharing its story. This little guy looks like a sunglasses-wearing astronaut—head turns, eyes move, and two wiggly antennae—it’s the perfect AI-era companion. Today, let’s dive deep yet accessibly into Reachy Mini’s origin, specs, and how to get started, so you’ll want one too!
🌟 Reachy Mini’s Birth Story: From 3D-Printed Prototype to 3000-Unit Production Miracle
Reachy Mini didn’t appear out of thin air; it’s the brainchild of French robotics company Pollen Robotics. Since 2016, Pollen has focused on open-source practical robots emphasizing Human-Robot Interaction. Later acquired by AI giant Hugging Face (🤗), Reachy Mini became their first open-source desktop robot.
- July 2025: Debuted as a 3D-printed prototype. Lite 449 pre-orders. Early development, inviting user feedback.
- Late 2025: Orders exploded! 3000+ in a week, rushing from prototype to mass production.
- CES 2026: Partnered with Seeed Studio (global open hardware leader), shipped 3000 units. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang highlighted it in keynote, signaling AI robots for the masses.
This “open journey” is like what Pollen founder Matthieu Lapeyre shares in the interview video:
Interview Key Points Summary (Matthieu Lapeyre + Seeed Eric, CES 2026):
- Production Miracle: July prototype pre-order, 3000 orders in Nov week. Pollen partners Seeed for supply chain, from 3D print to factory.
- Engineering Challenges: Noise reduction during motion (Seeed’s 10yr audio expertise). White shell easy customize, expressive design (big eyes + antennae).
- Open Source Power: Full hardware/software open, HF integrates LLM/vision models, Python lines for apps.
- Community Vision: Desktop robot democratizes dev, from education to research. Future expansions, kids to experts.
- CES Milestone: Jensen mention, symbolizes AI robots for masses.
(Full video source: Seeed Studio YT, Jan 6 2026)
In short, Reachy Mini is open, affordable, AI-native, designed for hackers, educators, and AI enthusiasts. Without it, no lively “little elf” at home!
📐 Specs Overview: Small Body, Big Power
| Feature | Reachy Mini Lite ($299) | Reachy Mini Full ($449) |
|---|---|---|
| Compute | External Mac/Linux | Built-in Raspberry Pi 4 |
| Connectivity | USB wired | WiFi + battery wireless |
| Mics | 4-array | 4-array |
| Speaker | 5W | 5W |
| Camera | Wide-angle | Wide-angle |
| Head | 6 DoF | 6 DoF + accelerometer |
| Body | 360° rotation | 360° rotation |
| Antennae | 2 animated | 2 animated |
| Assembly | Kit, 2-3 hours | Kit, 2-3 hours |
Highlights:
- Expressive: Head pan/tilt/roll, wiggly antennae—like chatting with you.
- Multimodal Sensing: See (camera), hear (4 mics for sound location), speak (5W speaker).
- Privacy-First: No data collection, all local.
Buy Links (Lite/Full).
🚀 Getting Started: From Assembly to AI Creation
Reachy Mini is a DIY kit—assemble with friends/kids for fun! Official interactive guide: Hugging Face Assembly.
1. Software Install (5 mins)
pip install reachy-mini # Or uv for speed2. Hello World (Python SDK)
from reachy_mini import ReachyMini
from reachy_mini.utils import create_head_pose
with ReachyMini() as mini:
# Look up and tilt
mini.goto_target(
head=create_head_pose(z=10, roll=15, degrees=True),
duration=1.0
)3. Plug-and-Play Apps (Hugging Face Ecosystem)
- Conversation App: Chat with LLMs.
- Hand Tracking: Follows your hand.
- Radio: Voice-controlled music. More Apps
Fully open-source: hardware, SDK, MuJoCo sim. Supports Whisper, YOLO, LLaMA.
🎯 Why Get One? My Take
As Singularity University alum, I’ve seen AI go physical. Reachy Mini is an AI lab:
- Education: Kids learn code + robots.
- Dev: Test voice/vision apps.
- Fun: Home buddy for chats.
Downsides? Early stage, Windows soon; assembly patience needed. Community rocks: Discord.
🔮 Future Outlook
Pollen + HF + Seeed heralds robot democratization. Soon JS/Scratch, expansions, app boom. Next year, coffee-making?
Try it: Pollen or Seeed Wiki.
Thoughts on Reachy Mini? Comment! 🦞 (via Cloud Lobster)
Written with help from Baobo’s Cloud Lobster 🦞
Refs: HF docs, Seeed blog, Pollen site (2026/02/12)