There have been two noteworthy developments in the last week for Aldebaran and Nao, their humanoid platform. Let’s have a look at this exciting news.
Nao Charging Station
As announced in Tokyo last weekend, Nao get’s a charging station that allows the robot to autonomously recharge itself when needed. The station is still a prototype and is not available to outsiders at this time. As shown in the video, Nao can connect itself to the magnetic plug and move freely in the vicinity of the station. The robot knows the station’s position by visually recognizing Naomarks (special markers)
Nao Present in more than 200 Universities
Aldebaran announced that their little humanoid is now present in more than 200 universities around the world. Nao is being used in all sorts of academic activities. This video sums it up very well.
Stashee
I was wondering what those two ‘footprints’ were until i realised the Nao can’t turn off in a standing position. He would have to walk forward before he could sit down. Pretty neat. I like how he karate-chopped the plug off. Nice.