Nao

A demonstration of Nao robots at Spain's Jaume I University in 2011.

Nao robots in a Webots RoboCup soccer simulation.

Presentation of a Nao robot at the Fêtons Linux in Geneva, Switzerland, in October 2011.

Nao (pronounced "now") is an autonomous, programmable humanoid robot, developed by Aldebaran Robotics, a French startup company headquartered in Paris. The robot's development began with the launch of Project Nao in 2004. On August 15, 2007, Nao replaced Sony's robot dog Aibo as the robot used in the Robot Soccer World Cup (Robocup) Standard Platform League (SPL), an international robotics competition.^[1] The Nao was used in RoboCup 2008 and 2009, and the NaoV3R was chosen as the platform for the SPL at RoboCup 2010.^[2]

The Nao Academics Edition is available for universities and laboratories for research and education purposes, and is projected for public distribution by 2011. In October 2010, the University of Tokyo purchased 30 Nao robots for their Nakamura Lab, with hopes of developing the robots into active lab assistants.^[3]

In the summer of 2010, Nao made global headlines with a synchronized dance routine at the Shanghai Expo in China.^[4] In December 2010, a Nao robot was demonstrated doing a stand-up comedy routine,^[5] and a new version of the robot was released, featuring sculpted arms and improved motors. In December 2011, Aldebaran Robotics released the Nao Next Gen, featuring enhanced software, a more powerful CPU and HD cameras.^[6]

Versions and availability

Six prototypes of Nao were designed between 2005 and 2007:

• January 2005 to March 2006: AL-01, AL-02 and AL-03
• September 2005 to July 2006: AL-04
• June 2006 to June 2007: AL-05.a
• May 2007 to December 2007: AL-05.b

On March 2008, the first production version of the robot, the Nao Robocup Edition, was released to the contestants of that year's Robocup.^[7] The Nao Academics Edition was released to universities, education institutes and research laboratories late 2008. In May 2011, Aldebaran announced it would release Nao's controlling source code to the public as open source.^[8] In June 2011, Aldebaran raised US$13 million in a round of venture funding led by Intel Capital.^[9]. In December 2011, Aldebaran launched the Nao Next Gen, featuring hardware and software enhancements such as HD cameras, improved robustness, anti-collision systems and a faster walking speed.^[6]

Design

The various versions of the Nao robotics platform feature either 14, 21 or 25 degrees of freedom (DoF). A specialised model with 21 DoF and no actuated hands was created for the Robocup competition. All Nao Academics versions feature an inertial measurement unit with accelerometer, gyrometer and four ultrasonic sensors that provide Nao with stability and positioning within space. The legged versions included eight force-sensing resistors and two bumpers.

The Nao robot also features an onboard multimedia system, including four microphones (for voice recognition and sound localization), two speakers (for text-to-speech synthesis) and two HD cameras (for computer vision, including facial and shape recognition).

The package comes with a software suite that includes a graphical programming tool ("Choregraphe"), simulation software and a SDK. Nao is also compatible with the Microsoft Robotics Studio, Cyberbotics Webots, and the Gostai Urbi Studio.^[10]

Specifications

References

Robotics portal

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nao

• Official website
• NaoForge (English) (French)
• Aldebaran's Youtube channel, showing latest research developments