Nao (robot)
Encyclopedia
Humanoid robot
A humanoid robot or an anthropomorphic robot is a robot with its overall appearance, based on that of the human body, allowing interaction with made-for-human tools or environments. In general humanoid robots have a torso with a head, two arms and two legs, although some forms of humanoid robots...
, developed by Aldebaran Robotics, a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
startup company
Startup company
A startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...
headquartered in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Project Nao was launched in 2004. On August 15, 2007, Nao replaced Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's robot dog Aibo
AIBO
AIBO was one of several types of robotic pets designed and manufactured by Sony...
as the robot used in the Robot Soccer World Cup
RoboCup
RoboCup is an international robotics competition founded in 1997. The aim is to develop autonomous soccer robots with the intention of promoting research and education in the field of artificial intelligence...
(Robocup) Standard Platform League (SPL)
RoboCup Standard Platform League
The RoboCup Standard Platform League is one of several leagues within RoboCup, an international competition with autonomous robotic soccer matches as the main event.-Overview:...
, an international robotics competition. The Nao was used in RoboCup 2008 and 2009, and the NaoV3R was chosen as the platform for the SPL at RoboCup 2010.
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
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
purchased 30 Nao robots for their Nakamura Lab, with hopes of developing the robots into active lab assistants.
In the summer of 2010, Nao made global headlines with a synchronized dance routine at the Shanghai Expo in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. In December 2010, a Nao robot was demonstrated doing a stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
routine, and the latest version of the robot was released, featuring sculpted arms and improved motors.
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 finalized version of the robot, the Nao Robocup Edition, was released to the contestants of that year's Robocup. The Nao Academics Edition was released to universities and education companies in late 2008. In late 2010, the Nao Developer Program was launched to allow developers to procure a Nao H25 Version 3.3, featuring longer arms, a new head and a new capacitive sensor on each hand.
In May 2011, Aldebaran announced it would release Nao's controlling source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
to the public as open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
. In June 2011, Aldebaran raised US$13 million in a round of venture funding
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
led by Intel Capital. A version of the robot for use by the general public is to be launched in late 2012.
Specifications
| Technical Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Height | 58 cm |
| Weight | 4,3 kg |
| Autonomy | 90 min. (constant walking) |
| Degrees of freedom | 21 to 25 |
| CPU | x86 AMD Geode 500 MHz |
| Built-in OS | Linux |
| Compatible OS | Windows, Mac OS, Linux |
| Programming languages | C++ C++ C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell... , C C (programming language) C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system.... , Python Python (programming language) Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive... , Urbi URBI Urbi is an open source cross-platform software platform in C++ used to develop applications for robotics and complex systems. Urbi is based on the UObject distributed C++ component architecture. It also includes the urbiscript orchestration language which is a parallel and event-driven script... , .Net .NET Framework The .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability... |
| Vision | Two CMOS 640×480 cameras |
| Connectivity | Ethernet, Wi-Fi |
The Nao Robocup Edition has 21 degrees of freedom (DOF), while the Academics Edition has 25 DOF, since it is built with two hands with gripping abilities. However, the figure of 25 for DOF is technically misleading, as each leg has a general "HipYawPitch" axis of movement that amounts to 1 DOF for the pelvis.
All versions feature an inertial measurement unit
Inertial measurement unit
An inertial measurement unit, or IMU, is an electronic device that measures and reports on a craft's velocity, orientation, and gravitational forces, using a combination of accelerometers and gyroscopes. IMUs are typically used to maneuver aircraft, including UAVs, among many others, and...
and four ultrasonic sensor
Ultrasonic sensor
Ultrasonic sensors work on a principle similar to radar or sonar which evaluate attributes of a target by interpreting the echoes from radio or sound waves respectively. Ultrasonic sensors generate high frequency sound waves and evaluate the echo which is received back by the sensor...
s that provide Nao with stability and positioning within space.
Nao also features a powerful multimedia system, including four microphones, two speakers and two CMOS
CMOS
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor is a technology for constructing integrated circuits. CMOS technology is used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital logic circuits...
cameras, for text-to-speech synthesis, sound localization and facial and shape recognition, amongst various other abilities.
The package includes a dedicated programming software called Aldebaran Choregraphe, and Nao is also compatible with Microsoft Robotics Studio
Microsoft Robotics Studio
Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio is a Windows-based environment for robot control and simulation. It is aimed at academic, hobbyist, and commercial developers and handles a wide variety of robot hardware....
, Cyberbotics Webots
Webots
Webots is a professional robot simulator widely used for educational purposes.The Webots project started in 1996, initially developed by Dr. Olivier Michel at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland....
, and Gostai Urbi Studio.