Using the NAO humanoid robot in the classroom

Robotics is a growing area, as evidenced by DARPA's recent Grand Challenge. A currently popular humanoid robot, NAO, developed by Aldebaran Robotics, has been used in many classroom activities, as well as competitions such as Robocup. This workshop will describe the features of NAO and introduce its software development environment, which includes a graphical programming language, a simulator, and APIs for many languages. Example programs developed in the graphical environment, as well as using the Python API, will be demonstrated and explained. A hands-on activity will allow participants to use either programming environment to perform a simple task. Ideas for using NAO in various settings will be presented as well. This workshop is intended for instructors at many levels. A Windows/Mac laptop is recommended.