By Andy Choi
Aldebaran’s NAO, a humanoid robot, is currently travelling through Europe showcasing its latest achievement, the ability to charge itself. The French built robot can find its charging station and plug itself in to charge, even unplugging itself when the charging is complete.
The 23-inch NAO can already do many things on its own including using a wide array of sensors, including two cameras, four microphones, an accelerometer and sonars, NAO can stand, sit, recover from a fall, detect small objects and pick them up, avoid obstacles and react to touch.
Now it can recharge itself on the NEST or the NAO Energy Station when it feels its batteries running low. This gives the robot a degree of independence that robots before it have not had. The robot has been constantly worked on since 2005 by the Paris based company and is being developed each year to do more than before.
The tiny robot has three fingers and weighs 11 pounds. Each charge gives him 90 minutes of activity. The NAO robot has also been used to help for various and varied purposes from helping autistic children to fetching a can of beer.