Check the expansion-board revision before buying parts
An October 2, 2026 correction changes the decision to build XGO-Duck. Its hardware README warns that older expansion boards reverse ground and signal on servo connectors U3, U4, and U5. You should establish which board and manufacturing files you're using before connecting servos. That's a more useful starting point than the somersault video: this project asks you to reconcile electrical documentation as well as print a duck-shaped shell.
XGO-Duck combines an Arduino UNO Q, Feetech 1910 servos, printable parts, and a custom board with an IMU. The repository supplies mechanical and electrical files; separate repositories supply the runtime and reinforcement-learning tools. English documentation is available alongside Chinese documentation. The project fits an experienced maker who wants to understand a physical biped. Someone seeking an appliance that works after copying a software image should choose a more finished route.
What happened when we ran it
Our lab did not run commit 27da83a on October 13, 2026 because it detected no supported ecosystem and found no Dockerfile. GitHub reported no primary programming language. The intended sandbox had 3 CPUs, 8 GB of RAM, no secrets, and no elevated privileges, but there was no supported application path for the harness to execute. We have no installation, build, or test result for this repository.
The distinction matters for a hardware release. A container cannot establish servo fit, wiring continuity, print tolerances, or stable walking. Our evidence here supports a review of the published files and build requirements, with no claim that we assembled the robot. The companion runtime's browser controls and the demonstrated movements remain documented project capabilities. Their reliability on a particular physical build needs a workshop evaluation we have not supplied.
Printing includes fit checks and flexible parts
The structure directory includes rigid body and joint parts plus TPU-designated soles and mouth pieces. The README explicitly says a complete validated print profile remains undocumented and recommends checking a servo mount and bearing fit before printing everything. Its print inventory also asks for confirmed orientation, tolerances, and TPU hardness. Owning a printer is only the beginning of reproducing the assembly.
The supplied assembly reference is 25 pages, organized around servo placement, legs, head mechanisms, and final assembly. That's more helpful than an unexplained folder of STLs, but assembly drawings cannot substitute for fit data. Check left and right parts, cable clearance, and material choices against your chosen revision. A failed bearing fit discovered in a small sample is much easier to correct than the same mistake repeated across a complete printed set.
The custom board needs reproducible manufacturing files
The PCBA directory contains Altium schematic and PCB sources, along with mechanical exports and assembly data. The board notice tells new builders to check schematic-to-board consistency, run electrical and layout checks, and regenerate manufacturing outputs. Older boards need a verified correction before use. The published instructions explain a cable workaround, while explicitly saying that board cutting and jumper locations have not been validated.
Open issue 10 requests Gerbers, drill files, and placement data regenerated from the corrected design. Its author reports that their manufacturer couldn't produce exports from the Altium sources and notes that the placement file predates the correction. That is a user's manufacturing report, not our measurement. It is still a concrete reason to secure an agreed manufacturing package before ordering a custom board from a supplier unfamiliar with this project.
Calibration depends on the specified actuators
The design uses fifteen serial servos: leg joints, neck and head joints, and a separately controlled mouth. Its motion policy produces targets for fourteen joints. The README directs builders to configure servo IDs and center positions through the companion runtime, then calibrate with the robot supported. Those instructions connect the physical assembly to the software's expected joint order. Swapping in a differently sized or differently behaving actuator is a design change.
The component notes identify the servo model and distinguish purchasing quantities from installed-fastener counts. They also leave the battery model, polarity, and charger compatibility to be confirmed. Don't infer an interchangeable battery from the connector label alone. The practical burden is obtaining matching parts and verifying the documented power path, rather than assuming a shopping list guarantees that every locally available substitute will work.
Reuse terms remain unfinished
The licensing document says there is no top-level license and that publication alone does not establish a complete reuse grant. It records maintainer intent for personal and educational replication, with separate commercial authorization for eligible original material, but says final terms and file scope are pending. It also warns that inherited components retain their own terms. A business needs those questions resolved before distributing a derivative.
GitHub listed 597 stars and 4 open issues and PRs on October 14, 2026. The last push was October 13, while recent issue activity covered manufacturing exports, sourcing, and component questions. The latest-release endpoint returned no release. That combination shows current work on real build concerns, rather than abandonment. It does not establish that every published export matches the corrected source or that an assembled unit has passed a repeatable acceptance procedure.
Microduck and Open Duck Mini offer different starting points
Pollen Robotics' Microduck is the upstream robot project linked by XGO-Duck, with its own runtime and hardware route. Choose it when you want to follow the original system rather than the Arduino adaptation. Open Duck Mini is another printable biped project with CAD and build resources, although its README acknowledges undocumented scripts. Neither is evidence that XGO-Duck's board and actuator choices can be mixed into another design. For this build, settle the board revision and matching exports before placing the electronics order.