Romeo is a full-size humanoid research robot developed by Aldebaran, the French company behind the much smaller and far more widely deployed NAO. Where NAO is a ~58 cm desktop educational robot, Romeo was conceived as a roughly human-scale robot — about 1.4 m tall — intended as a genuine personal-assistance platform, specifically to help elderly and disabled people with everyday tasks. It was Aldebaran's exploration of the "robot helper in the home" vision.
Availability
Romeo was a research project, not a commercial product. A first prototype was planned around 2011, and Romeo was used as a research platform (including in collaborative academic projects) — but it was never sold or released as a product. There is no price or purchasing path. As with NAO, note Aldebaran's corporate history (Aldebaran → SoftBank Robotics → Aldebaran again) and its recent financial difficulties.
Full Specifications
| Spec | Value (reported) |
|---|---|
| Type | Full-size humanoid research robot |
| Height | ~1.40 m |
| Weight | ~40 kg |
| Degrees of freedom | ~37 (including 2 per eye, 1 per foot, and 3 in the backbone) |
| Notable design features | Four-vertebra articulated backbone; articulated feet; a soft torso; composite leg exoskeleton; back-drivable actuators for safe operation around people |
| Intended use | Personal assistance — helping elderly and disabled people with everyday tasks |
| Interaction | Designed for natural communication via speech and gestures |
Significance
Romeo was Aldebaran's attempt to scale up from the small NAO toward a genuinely assistive, human-scale companion robot. Its engineering choices — a multi-vertebra backbone, articulated feet, a soft torso, and back-drivable (compliant) actuators — were aimed squarely at safe, capable operation in close contact with vulnerable people. Although Romeo did not become a product, it was a notable European research effort in assistive humanoid robotics and a step in exploring the home-companion robot concept that companies like 1X and Figure now pursue commercially.
Romeo vs Related Robots
- Romeo vs NAO: Same maker — NAO is the small, commercially successful educational robot; Romeo is the larger assistive research humanoid that stayed a prototype.
- Romeo vs 1X NEO Gamma: Both target home assistance for ordinary people; Romeo was a 2010s research project, NEO Gamma is a shipping consumer product.
- Romeo vs PAL Robotics' humanoids: Both are European research humanoids exploring assistive applications.
Source: Aldebaran
