Robotics  

Researchers have recruited the help of NAO robots in the prototype CoWriter system.  Students teach the robot to improve its handwriting and see the robot's improved performance reflected in their own work.

EPFL researchers presented their new teaching tool, called CoWriter, at the Conference on Human-­‐Robot Interaction (HRI), an important event in the field of interactive robotics, held recently in Portland.

The program is based on learning by teaching, a recognized principle in pedagogy. When children experience difficulties in writing, they can easily lose confidence, begin to shut down, or even gradually lose interest in the learning process. Eventually, their entire education can be affected. When students put themselves in the place of a teacher and pass on what they know to their peers, they can regain their self-­‐esteem and motivation.

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The researchers’ idea was to make a robot play the role of the peer who needs to be taught. “Essentially, the goal is to provide a tool for teachers that is given a new role in the classroom, that of a student who knows even less than the slowest student in the class,” explains Séverin Lemaignan, one of the authors of the study.

"We are not really taking the role of the teacher, we are creating a new role in the classrooom for the robots," Lemaignan explains.

"We are not really taking the role of the teacher, we are creating a new role in the classrooom for the robots."

Scientists developed progressive writing algorithms and implemented them using the 58 cm tall NAO robot from Aldebaran, which is designed to be likeable and interact with humans. With these algorithms, the machine can clumsily draw words on demand, and then gradually improve. To do this, it uses a vast database of handwriting examples, which allows it to reproduce common errors made by young children while learning.

It is also possible to program the robot so that it addresses the particular difficulties of a student, for example, by drawing a P that is barely readable and improving its form over time.

The CoWriter system, still in the prototype stage, has already been used in primary school lessons with about seventy students ranging from six to eight years old, and then individually with a six year old child for one hour per week over the course of one month. So far the system has been very well received.

These experiments have mainly allowed testing the system from a technical point of view and to verify that the algorithms meet the children’s long-­‐term demands and that they lead to the desired outcome. In the coming months the researchers will conduct further studies to quantify the benefits of such a program: its effectiveness on the learning process and student progress, its ease of use for teachers and its applicability in more specialized fields such as speech therapy.




SOURCE  EPFL

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 Robotics  

Aldebaran Robotics has announced the launch of NAO Evolution, the new generation of its NAO robot, equipped with the NAOqi 2.0™ operating system.

French robot maker Aldebaran has announced the launch of NAO Evolution, the new generation of the popular NAO robot, equipped with the NAOqi 2.0™ operating system.
    
NAO Evolution is the fifth and latest generation of 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.

According to the company's press release, NAO Evolution is the next big step for the development of innovative applications for a broad range of companies and content publishers.

The new robot has the the most up-to-date operating system, NAOqi 2.0, now being used by all of the company's robots, including the new emotional robot Pepper. Designed for easy natural voice interaction, the NAOqi environment includes a dialogue engine, an emotional engine, and Autonomous Life.

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All robots designed by Aldebaran share the same technologies and operating system, enabling the transfer applications from one robot to another with a minimum amount of adaptation. This includes the larger Aldebaran robot, Romeo, which is also proceeding with development. In this sense, Aldebaran has succeeded in the challenge of creating a unique "platform" available in several humanoid forms and benefiting from the same advanced software.

NAO Evolution also has improved functionality for easy interaction between humans and the robot and allowing developers to program complex sequences themselves:

• • Improved shape and facial detection and recognition using new algorithms 
• • Improved sound source location using 4 directional microphones 
• • Refined obstacle detection and distance estimation with a detection range from 1 cm (0.39 inches) to 3 m (9.8 feet) using new sonar telemeters 
• • More powerful battery: 48.6 watt-hours, giving NAO Evolution about 1 h 30 min of battery life in operational mode, i.e. 30% more than the previous generation. 
• Although NAO Evolution is the same size as before (height: 58 cm, 1.9 feet), it is now:
• • Stronger, with metal gears in the neck, hips, legs, and ankles. 
• • Quieter, with soles that dampen the noise and friction of its footsteps. 
• • More skillful, grasping objects more easily using finger grips. 

"Apart from schools and universities, we would like companies and the developer community to get hold of our robots and create applications that will ensure the success of NAO in the future."

"This new phase is fully in line with our vision of eventually offering the greatest possible number of humanoid robots for a variety of purposes" says Bruno Maisonnier, founder and CEO of Aldebaran. "Apart from schools and universities, we would like companies and the developer community to get hold of our robots and create applications that will ensure the success of NAO in the future."

Now available, NAO Evolution will be marketed with package per region.


SOURCE  Aldebaran Robotics

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 Robotics  

After the success of it's NAO, small humanoid robot, Aldbaran Robotics has engaged a new challenge: the production of a larger robot called Romeo that will allow for interaction more effectively in everyday human environments.

Romeo is a humanoid robot from Aldebaran Robotics, known as the makers of the popular NAO robot.  Romeo is currently a development project that aims to create a real robotic personal assistant and companion; a test-bed for a larger NAO.

NAO was a worldwide success, with nearly 5,000 copies sold or rented since its launch in 2008. Initially restricted to researchers in robotics, it is has since been open to the world of education, and more. Aldebaran has also developed software to engage children with autism.

Having developed NAO, the company noted the new challenge: the production of a larger robot that would allow the robot to interact more effectively in everyday environments such as opening a door or take objects on a table.

Having developed NAO, the company noted the new challenge: the production of a larger robot that would allow the robot to interact more effectively in everyday environments such as opening a door or take objects on a table.

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Today, this research platform serves both to validate the use of assistance that will be enabled by a larger robot Nao and secondly to test new technologies that can be integrated on future products for the company. These innovations are derived from Aldebaran Robotics own but also the work of academic and industrial partners conducted within the framework of collaborative projects such as the PSPC project.

Among the items being tested with Romeo include: human robot interaction, mobile eyes and the vestibular system (balance), and force control.

Already four European laboratories have acquired early prototype versions of Romeo. There have been two versions, as planned when writing the project specifications. Between the two versions, the design of the spinal column changed, the final electronics were incorporated into the head, the shells of the upper body were made using more solid material, electronic wiring in the legs was improved, and the batteries were integrated, among other advances.

The robot has the size of a child of eight years (1.40 m) and weighs a little more (40 kilos). To be as light as possible, its body is made of carbon fiber and rubber, and was designed to avoid the risk of injury to the person that will attend. Today, Romeo can walk, see the three-dimensional environment, hear and speak, much like NAO.

One potential use of larger humanoid robots like Romeo is as caregivers.

Romeo was made only four copies, all purchased by European research organizations should receive in the coming months. The timeline for testing the robot in real-world conditions is projected for 2016, with the final objective of being able to use it in a retirement home in the 2017 or 2019.

Funded in part by the French government and the European Commission, the Romeo project budget totals 37 million Euros over the period from 2009-2016.

SOURCE  Project Romeo

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 Living With Robots  

Researchers have found that people expressed more positive feelings toward a robot that would take care of them than toward a robot that needed care.

Designers and engineers assign robots specific roles, such as servant, caregiver, assistant or playmate. Researchers have now found that people expressed more positive feelings toward a robot that would take care of them than toward a robot that needed care.

"For robot designers, this means greater emphasis on role assignments to robots," said S. Shyam Sundar, Distinguished Professor of Communications at Penn State and co-director of University's Media Effects Research Laboratory. "How the robot is presented to users can send important signals to users about its helpfulness and intelligence, which can have consequences for how it is received by end users."

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To test how human perception of a robot changed based on its role, researchers observed 60 interactions between college students and a NAO social robot developed by Aldebaran Robotics, a French company specializing in humanoid robots.

Each interaction could go one of two ways. The human could help NAO calibrate its eyes, or NAO could examine the human's eyes like a concerned eye doctor and make suggestions to improve vision.

Participants then filled out a questionnaire about their feelings toward the robot. Researchers used these answers to calculate the robot's perceived benefit and social presence in both scenarios. They published their results in the current issue of Computers in Human Behavior.

"When (humans) perceive greater benefit from the robot, they are more satisfied in their relationship with it, and even trust it more," Sundar said. "In addition, we found that when the robot cares for you, it seems to have greater social presence."

A robot with a strong social presence behaves and interacts like an authentic human, according to Ki Joon Kim, doctoral candidate in the department of interaction science, Sungkyunkwan University, in Korea, and lead author of the journal article.

The research team found that when participants perceived a strong social presence, they considered the caregiving robot smarter than the robot in the alternate scenario. Participants were also more likely to attribute human qualities to the caregiving robot.

"Social presence is particularly important in human-robot interactions and areas of artificial intelligence because the ultimate goal of designing and interacting with social robots is to provide users with strong feelings ofsocialness," said Kim.

The next immediate goal is to confirm these experimental findings in real-life situations where caretaker robots are already working. Examining how other robot roles influence human perception toward them is also important.

"We have just finished collecting data at a local retirement village in State College with the Homemate robot which we brought in from Korea," said Sundar. "In that study, we are examining differences in user reactions to a robot that is an assistant versus one that is framed as a companion."



SOURCE  Penn State University

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 Robotics  

RoboCup 2013 this year in The Netherlands featured over 2500 competitors. Video highlights from the competition show how far robotics have come, and how far they have to go.

RoboCup 2013 is over and done with, and that means videos of the matches.

Below are some highlight videos of the competition, but for the full matches, check out the RoboCup 2013 YouTube Channel.

This match features two teams of Aldebaran NAO robots:

RoboCup 2013 Kid Size FINAL: IRAN / USA

RoboCup 2013 Teen Size FINAL: GERMANY / JAPAN

The NimbRo TeenSize team from Germany had an easy win in the final of the Humanoid Teen Size League against CIT Brains Teen from Japan. The Japanese team had problems with their robots, while both the German robots were on the field for most of the match – a numerical superiority which they used to full advantage.

RoboCup 2013 Adult Size FINAL: TAIWAN / JAPAN

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The Adult Size final saw JoiTech from Japan take an early lead, when their robot managed to stop a penalty shot by their opponents from Taiwan who had beaten Tech United in the semi-final. But then JoiTech’s robot couldn’t find the ball when it was his turn to take a penalty shot, making the score even again. However the Japanese team went back into the lead when the next shot by the Taiwan team’s robot hit the goalpost. So at the end of the match the winners were the JoiTech team from Japan, giving them the World Champions title for the coming year!

Humanoid robots are nice, but the non-humanoid leagues are just so much better at playing soccer. It's incredible to see these robots support each other across the field, string together passed, and beat defenders to make aggressive shots on goal.

RoboCup 2013 - Semi Final: Tech United vs CAMBADA (Portugal)

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 Robotics Jobs

Aldebaran Robotics is recruiting engineering talents to join the NAO humanoid robot's dream team. The company build-up is linked to a push to develop robotic companions and consumer market androids.

T he makers of the amazing NAO research robot, Aldebaran Robotics have just announced a major recruiting drive at shapetheworld.fr.  This follows the company's securing major financial backing from Japan's Softbank earlier this year.

Aldebaran is a world leader in humanoid robotics. More than 450 universities, labs and schools worldwide are working with NAO in research and education.

For the future, the company has embraced the ambitious goal of developing humanoid robots for use by the general public. Of the more than 180 people at Aldebaran, including 40% in R&D, are involved in the development and production of NAO and future robots.

Aldebarn is currently looking to fill positions including:

• - C++ Developers

• - Processing Engineers

• - Software Integrators

• - Test Engineers

• - Audio Engineers

• - Mechanical Engineers

• - Robotics Engineers

• - and many more

Aldebaran believes that in coming years robots will positively impact our lives to the same extent as PCs and mobile devices did during the past three decades. According to the company, robots will change the way we learn, work and communicate.

A robotic companion to assist humans is no longer science fiction but a realistic answer to the requirements of an aging society. We are developing practical solutions for everyday life by conducting research in areas such as autistic child therapy, human-robot interaction and personal robotics.

To learn more and apply visit the shapetheworld.fr/







SOURCE  Twitter

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French TV channel LCI has released a feature on their home-grown best selling robot, the NAO from Aldebaran Robotics.  The feature does not provide much more than the promotional videos on the Aldebaran site, but if your like us, you can't get enough of the cute and capable NAO.

Nao le robot qui fait tout (LCI est @ Vous) Vidéo LCIWAT sélectionnée dans Actualité