NAO (pronounced "now") is a small autonomous, programmable humanoid robot — and the most widely deployed humanoid robot in education and research in the world. It was created by Aldebaran, a French robotics company founded in 2005 by Bruno Maisonnier. NAO has become a standard platform in universities, schools, and research labs globally, used for teaching programming and robotics, for human-robot-interaction research, for autism therapy, and as the official robot of the RoboCup Standard Platform League.
Price Range
NAO is genuinely sold as a product, primarily to educational and research institutions. It is far cheaper than full-size humanoids — historically in the mid-four-figure to roughly five-figure (USD) range depending on configuration, bundles, and software licensing. Because the maker's situation has been in flux, confirm current pricing and availability directly.
| Basis | Figure |
|---|---|
| Market | Education and research institutions |
| Pricing | Education-electronics range (roughly mid-four to five figures USD, configuration-dependent) |
| Deployment | 13,000+ units across 70+ countries (as of 2024) |
| Status note | Verify current availability/support given Aldebaran's recent financial difficulties |
Full Specifications
Specifications reflect the current generation, NAO6 (V6).
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Height | ~58 cm |
| Weight | ~5.6 kg |
| Degrees of freedom | ~25 |
| Motors | Maxon coreless DC motors |
| Cameras | Two HD cameras (face and object recognition) |
| Audio | Four directional microphones; speakers |
| Languages | Speech recognition and dialogue in ~20 languages |
| Other sensors | Inertial unit (accelerometer + gyros), sonar rangefinders, infrared, tactile and pressure sensors |
| Compute | Intel Atom processor |
| Software | NAOqi OS; programmed via the Choregraphe suite; supports C++, Python, Java, MATLAB, and more |
| Features | Fall detection and self-recovery; object tracking; expressive LED eyes |
Model Breakdown
NAO has evolved through several generations (the line includes earlier versions up to the current NAO6). It is a single small-humanoid product line, distinct from Aldebaran's larger wheeled service robot Pepper and from the larger research humanoid Romeo (covered below).
Buyer's Guide: What to Know
NAO is the standard educational humanoid. With 13,000+ units worldwide, it is the default choice for teaching robotics and programming, HRI research, and RoboCup competition.
It is small and affordable — by humanoid standards. At 58 cm and a four-to-five-figure price, NAO is in a completely different category from full-size humanoids; it is a desktop-scale teaching robot.
Choregraphe lowers the barrier. The graphical Choregraphe programming environment, plus support for mainstream languages, makes NAO accessible across student skill levels.
Check the vendor's status first. Given Aldebaran's financial difficulties, confirm current pricing, availability, and long-term software/support before committing — the robot is excellent, but the corporate situation has been uncertain.
NAO vs Similar Robots
- NAO vs Aldebaran Romeo: Same maker — NAO is the small, widely sold educational robot; Romeo is the larger research humanoid that never reached commercialization.
- NAO vs Leju Aelos: The closest comparison — both are small programmable educational humanoids used in schools and RoboCup.
- NAO vs SoftBank Pepper: Same corporate family; Pepper is a larger wheeled commercial service robot, NAO a small bipedal education/research robot.
Source: Aldebaran
