The humanoid robot has long been in trend and its popularity has influenced the roboticists to continue their research and develop more advanced designs. The same impulse compelled the French company Aldebaran-Robotics to bring NAO humanoid robot design to the forefront. Reason for its Popularity Right since day 1, this robot has received wide popularity due to its designing guidelines. The roboticists developed this mechatronic design following the guidelines of affordability, modularity, and performance – three core aspects of robotic creations. We will discuss how these guidelines are effectively followed by the designers while crafting NAO. a. Affordability Affordability means that the robot should be available to the maximum people who want a performant biped robot. Most of the current functional humanoids are quite expensive. Even the small-sized humanoid robot HOAP from Fujitsu ranges about USD 50,000. On the contrary, NAO is devised with the cost reduction concern without affecting quality and performance. Interestingly, the target price for NAO is somewhat around 10K Euros for academics.
b. Performance Now comes the matter of performance. A biped robot has to exhibit good motion performance relative to its body mass index (BMI) or height to weight ratio. NAO’s BMI is about 13.5 [kg/m2]. That means it has a lighter weight as compared to other existing robots of a similar height. Again, a lightweight robot means less powerful and smaller motors, larger acceleration range, less thermal dissipation, and better dynamic capabilities. Due to the reduced weight, lightweight humanoid robot designs are less fragile and less dangerous. Among several performant robots like ETL-humanoid, the BIP biped, the Johnnie and LOLA robots, the 2D Rabbit biped, and others, Asimo humanoid built by Honda is often considered to be the most impressive. It has the capability to walk fast - up to 3 km/h forward, change its direction, and climb up and down stairs smoothly. NAO is designed to execute smooth walking gaits even while changing direction and speed. Its walking speed is similar to that of a 2 years old child of the same size – about 0.6 km/h. The performance targets for this robot further include the capability to exhibit a wide range of movements with precision and swiftness and a wide degree of interactive autonomy. c. Modularity Modularity is the third aspect followed by the designers. Modularity refers to the actuator modules that can be used for various joints. Again, the modular design of the robot’s limbs is also significant to promote further evolution. NAO’s head can be easily unplugged and consequently replaced by a more specialized and efficient one; even with an animatronic head. Similarly, the hands and forearms of this robot can also be changed. Last but not the least, the problem of maintenance is not negligible. Since NAO is about to be ready for sale on a massive scale, its maintenance must be optimized. Each part of it should be user-friendly and the spare parts have to be changed quickly. Conclusion As you can see, humanoid robot designs are not limited to the research labs or high-end entertainment houses anymore. It is gradually getting integrated with regular public life. And its affordability plays a crucial factor in this. Thanks to mass production and functionality reductions, a version of NAO is about to be available for the public for about 4K Euros. For more such striking information and custom robotic solutions, feel free to reach our experts at Custom Entertainment Solutions. Call 01.801.410.4869.
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