The best soccer player were playing in brazil last week

NAO, the small but mighty anthropomorphic robot manufactured by the French company Aldebaran, is evolving. Already the planet’s most acclaimed fully programmable, autonomous robot for education and research with over 5000 operating in more than seventy countries; NAO EVOLUTION, the new generation, sports several advancements over its successful predecessor.

NAO EVOLUTION V5 - Official Release

UNVEILING OF NAO EVOLUTION: A STRONGER ROBOT AND A MORE COMPREHENSIVE OPERATING SYSTEM

ALDEBARAN is announcing the launch of NAO EVOLUTION, the new generation of its NAO robot, equipped with the NAOqi 2.0™ operating system.    

Aldebaran, the global leader in humanoid robotics, is pleased to announce the launch of NAO EVOLUTION, the 5th and latest generation of NAO, the interactive, autonomous, and fully programmable robot. NAO is already being used for specific research and education purposes. Over 5000 robots are currently operating in 70 countries. With its new functionality, NAO EVOLUTION is the next big step for the development of innovative applications for a broad range of companies and content publishers.

Meet Pepper, the robot who might become your best friend

“If you want a friend in Washington, get a robot.” The Internet seems unsure of the origins of the much older phrase, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." Either way, for the first time, it has become possible to get a robot if you want a friend.

Her name is PEPPER. PEPPER stands 48 inches tall and weighs 62 pounds. French robot developer Aldebaran designed the robot for Japanese mobile operator Softbank. Aldebaran, as you might be aware, is also the developer of the most widely distributed robot ever made, NAO. In fact, PEPPER looks like a taller NAO on a wheeled pedestal instead of two articulated legs.

TeacherCast Interview: Learn How RobotsLAB is innovating STEM Education

NAO humanoid robot gives a more personal connection to autistic children

No one is certain as to why, but it seems that NAO, the anthropomorphic robot from the French company Aldebaran, appeals to children with autism. Some experts suggest the appeal has something to do with NAO’s non-threatening voice and appearance. Others say they believe it is NAO’s ability to communicate with these children without the complicated social and emotional facial clues given off by other humans that confuse and frighten them.

Several studies indicate that NAO is a valuable addition to the existing systems that work with autistic children. No claim is made by NAO’s adherents that it is the only viable strategy for dealing with childhood autism-- but with over 5000 of these anthropomorphic robots placed in research and educational institutions worldwide there is a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest they work well with these children in existing classrooms. The recent experiences of educators and children at Shaler Academy in Ridgefield, N.J.and at Vanderbilt University illustrates this point.

It's here! The NAO Robot is finally out of the classroom! We took it to skydive! Take a look...

Do you remember when:

•          AldebaranRobotics' NAO robot was only available to schools and universities?
•          When a NAO cost $16,000?
•          NAO was unable to fly?

Well, that's old news because:

•          NAO is available for purchase by anyone.  No more academic requirements
•          The price of a NAO has been reduced to only $7,990!  Or even free (see below).
•          We arranged a skydiving trip to get NAO out of the classroom

We are working with Aldebaran Robotics and their NAO robots since 2010. We've delivered hundreds of NAOs to schools, universities, research institutes and tech museums around the world, and even publicly shared apps for NAO on the RobotAppStore. Unfortunately, over the years we have had to turn away many people that wanted to adopt a NAO because they didn't meet the academic criteria. It has been very difficult to say "no" over and over again, and to disappoint all of those people that wanted to put their hands on the latest and greatest technology.

At last, the wait is over.

Aldebaran no longer requires NAO purchases to come from academia.   Anyone can buy one! (Just make sure that you understand computer software before you buy one.)

And general availability isn't even the best part! The best part is that the price has dropped from $16,000 to only $7,990. That's a 50% drop!  That's right.  NAO is half price AND anyone can buy it!

To celebrate this exciting news, we've decided make it even more exciting and give cash back to one out of twenty of the buyers of the NAO! (Please read the terms and conditions here). Not only that, we’ve arranged a skydive experience for NAO, to demonstrate the robot is out of the classroom and the amazing price drop. Take a look for yourself, (and don’t forget to share!)

'Robot Olympics' 17 Cyborg Athletes to Vie for Glory in DARPA Challenge

We look forward to DARPA challenge, awesome robots are coming! But with all due respect to DARPA challenge, the real Robot Olympics game is the ' NAO Olympics' . RobotsLAB has crated a series of sport challenges with the NAO robot. Check it out, game on!

NAO is the first robot that goes to Mars

On January 18, 2014, Aldebaran’s NAO Robot stood where no robot has gone before, and RobotsLAB was responsible for training his seven human companions in the finer points of his programming. NAO will be the only robot in an analog astronaut crew  ascending into the Mars Society’s, Mars Desert Research Station in the the high desert of Utah. Anyone familiar with the high desert can appreciate the analogy--at this time of year the high desert is nearly as barren, dry, sandy and cold as the surface of Mars!  

5 Tools Everyone In The Educational Robotics Industry Should Be Using

Of course the first answer to the question posited by the title of this piece is a facetious one--lots of money! So let us qualify the question a bit more by asking, "What are 5 tools everyone in the educational robotics industry should be using that most of us in the industry can afford?"

Since learning to code is so important to any STEM discipline, the first tool everyone in the educational robotics industry should be using is the online community and programming language called Scratch. This innovative site helps kids learn its namesake programming language and create interactive stories, games and computer animations. This outstanding tool is actually free!

Since math is basic to any scientific endeavor, the ability to interest and engage students in math is crucial to the educational robotics industry. Our second tool that everyone in the industry should be using, the RobotsLAB BOX, has proved its ability to interest and engage kids in math with an innovative combination of robots and tablets in many progressive school districts. The old teaching standbys like the book and the whiteboard can’t compete with "cool" robot helicopters demonstrating quadratic equations in real-time on a tablet.

Would you consider NAO Robot as a Looney? Prof. Hunter Lloyd has a surprise for you!

Montana is considered to be deep in the heart of "flyover country". You know, that part of the United States that people traveling back and forth to the East and West coasts look down at from a curved window at 35,000 feet and wonder if anyone really lives there.  Those people don’t think of Montana as a high tech state.

But they would be wrong! Montana, Bozeman, Montana in this case, settled between the Bridger Mountains and the Tobacco Root Mountains in the southeast part of the state and home of the University of Montana, boasts one of the most formidably competitive robots in this or any country. I’m talking about LOONEY, winner of six medals in the recent (2013) RoboGames in San Francisco. Oh, and he was winner of new fewer than five medals in the previous games, 2012 .