Aldebaran Robotics unveils NAO humanoid robot – VIDEO

The Nao Next Gen has had several software and hardware updates. It now works with adding a 1.6GHz processor, which is powerful enough to handle two HD cameras simultaneously.

The robot has other technical improvements. The voice, facial and object recognition has been greatly improved. Its stability and speed were also reviewed and corrected.

NAO can speak 8 different languages and engineers at Aldebaran Robotics are working on designing educational content to allow its use in schools.

“With NAO Next Gen coming of age, we shall be able to make it serve organizations that care for autistic children and those losing their autonomy,” Aldebaran Chairman Bruno Maisonnier was quoted as saying in a release.

“On top of this new hardware version, we shall be delivering new software functionalities like smart torque control, a system to prevent limb/body collisions, an improved walking algorithm, and more.”

Nao can be programmed with Choregraphe, a GUI and behavior library developed by Aldebaran. No official price has been released so far but other editions have sold to researchers for up to $14,600.

The first Nao robot was launched in 2005, built by Bruno Maisonnier and the five people who had believed in his crazy dream, offering a small humanoid for research, teaching and service robotics. Since then, Aldebaran Robotics and its 140 employees have resumed work on the humanoid bot and managed to sell 2,000 robots worldwide.