At last it’s official! Nao is now in production. 32 Naos are literally being put on their feet in our premises and will soon meet their satisfied owners. The 16 teams are taking part in the 2008 Standard RoboCup league (from July 15th to 20th) in Suzhou in China. This initial shipment of 2 robots per team will be followed by an equivalent one late next May.

This version of Nao has allowed us assessing how much progress we have made these past months, particularly in its mechanics and electronics: the actuators are much quieter and more flexible.

Nao is now more sure-footed and totally self-propelling, thanks to the addition of its battery pack. As for its look, the standard of finish is virtually that of the finished product.

The interactive part is also being constantly improved: for instance, we managed to play Granny’s footsteps with its vision system! (The camera is capable of detecting the slightest movement in its field of vision). Here is a video of the assembly line and Nao learning to walk.

Aldebaran Robotics raised 5 million euros from CDC Innovation and I-source Gestion on 10 January 2008, good news for the Aldebaran Robotics venture!

Among other things, these funds will be used to boost manpower, improve development and proceed with the industrialization stage.

Apart from its functional aspects, this influx of funds is another mark of investor confidence in Nao’s future.

Aldebaran Robotics has been a member of the ‘Cap Digital’ competitive cluster (covering the Greater Paris region) since January 2008.

The aim of this cluster is to revitalize the digital content sector by boosting the creativity and competitiveness of businesses, SMEs in particular, which make up 80% of Cap Digital’s members.

So Aldebaran Robotics will now be able to capitalize on Cap Digital’s network of contacts to forge new technological and strategic partnerships, play a part in the cluster’s communication or find new sources of funding when the time comes.

On 21 February 2008, as a member of Cap Digital, Aldebaran Robotics had the opportunity of exhibiting at Cap 2012, a joint trade event put on to inaugurate the competitive cluster’s strategic plan.

Prime Minister François Fillon honoured us with a visit and cordially shook hands with Nao, who couldn’t resist taking his picture and inviting him to the RoboCup.

The RoboCup German Open will take place in Hanover from 21 to 25 April next, as part of the ‘Mobile Robots and Autonomous Systems’ trade show.

For the first time, visitors will be able to watch short demonstration doubles matches of the Nao Robocup Edition, put on by the two German teams taking part in the ‘Nao League’ of the 2008 RoboCup, the BreDoBrothers and the Humboldt University team.

Bruno Maisonnier will be one of the speakers in the show’s programme of conferences.

Now that mass production is underway, we will shortly be surrounded by Naos.

This initial production phase will be followed by more intensive industrialization, which means Nao will need improving to make it an even more appealing product.

To that end we shall soon be calling for ideas and feedback from the ‘Naophile’ community though surveys and Focus Groups in France and abroad. Watch this space!