Nao-bilities

Aldebaran Robotics has created the ASK NAO Initiative (Autism Solution for Kids) - to provide a complete, user-friendly robotics solution to schools with special needs.

This page provides a short description of the capabilities of the NAO robot. It highlights the main features of the robot, particularly its sensing capabilities, which are mostly interesting for interaction with autistic kids.

For further details, check Aldebaran's documentation.

NAO is a programmable, 58cm tall humanoid robot with the following key components:

Body with 25 degrees of freedom (DOF) whose key elements are electric motors and actuators
2 cameras, 4 microphones, sonar rangefinder, 2 IR emitters and receivers, 1 inertial board, 9 tactile sensors, and 8 pressure sensors
Various communication devices, including voice synthesizer, LED lights, and 2 high-fidelity speakers
27,6-watt-hour battery that provides NAO with 1.5 or more hours of autonomy, depending on usage

Vision

NAO contains a set of algorithms for detecting and recognizing faces and shapes. NAO can recognize who is talking to it or find a ball or, eventually, more complex objects.

NAOqi currently contains the following vision modules:

ALBacklightingDetection: enables to check if the image on the camera is backlit.
ALDarknessDetection: gives NAO the ability to detect if it is in a dark environment.
ALFaceDetection: gives NAO the ability to detect and recognize human faces.
ALLandmarkDetection: gives NAO the ability to detect specific visual landmarks.
ALMovementDetection: gives NAO the ability to detect some movement and tell where it comes from.
ALPhotoCapture: provides tools to take pictures and save them on disk.
ALRedBallDetection: gives NAO the ability to detect red and circular objects.
ALVisionRecognition: provides learning and recognition capabilities of visual patterns.
ALVisualCompass: gives NAO the ability to use an image as a compass.

Audio

NAO uses four microphones to track sounds, and its voice recognition and text-to-speech capabilities allow it to communicate in 8 languages. Sound localization allows a robot to identify the direction of sounds.

Tactile Sensors

NAO is fitted with capacitive sensors positioned on top of its head in three sections and on its hands. Two bumpers are located at the tip of each foot. You can therefore give NAO information through touch: pressing once to tell it shut down, for example, or using the sensors as a series of buttons to trigger an associated action. The system comes with LED lights that indicate the type of contact. You can also program complex sequences.

Tactile Head

Tactile Hands

Feet Bumpers

Sonar Rangefinders

NAO is equipped with two sonar channels: two transmitters and two receivers. They allow NAO to estimate the distances to obstacles in its environment. The detection range is 0–70 cm. Less than 15 cm, there is no distance information; NAO only knows that an object is present.

Infrared

Infrared transceivers in the eyes allow connection to objects in the environment. You can configure NAO to use infrared to control other devices (“NAO, please turn on the TV”). In addition, NAO can also receive instructions from infrared emitters, such as remote controls. And of course, two NAOs can communicate with each other directly.

Loudspeakers

NAO is equipped with a stereo broadcast system made up of 2 loudspeakers in its ears.

Inertial Unit

The Inertial unit is made of:

2 axis gyrometers,
1 three axis accelerometer.

The output data enables an estimation of the torso speed and attitude (Yaw, Pitch, Roll).

NAO is able to detect in which posture it is, from a set of predefined postures.

FSRs

FSR stands for Force Sensitive Resistors.

These sensors measure a resistance change according to the pressure applied.

The FSR located on the feet have a working range from 0 N to 25 N.

Wi-Fi

NAO is compatible with the IEE 802.11g Wi-Fi standard and can be used on both WPA and WEP networks, making it possible to connect to most home and office networks.

NAO's ability to connect to networks offers a wide range of possibilities. You can pilot and program NAO using any computer on the network. Using XMPP technology (like in the Google Chat system), you can control NAO remotely and stream video from its cameras.

Battery

The autonomy of NAO is ~ 60 min (active use) ~ 90 min (Normal use). NAO can be used while it is plugged in with the adapter. But the battery will charge only if NAO is powered off and plugged to its adapter.

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