Nao Reads Appointments From a Google Calendar

As a brief update on some of my project ideas for Nao (which I mentioned in my last blog post), I have prototyped access to Google data via the gData API. Using the Google Calendar as a test bed, Nao can access the secure, private calendar feed and read appointments out via his text to speech sub system. There is more information after the break but here is a short video.

Time and Tide waits for no man.....

First an apology. I have been paricularly lax in posting to the blog and I really have no excuse. Well, I do, but they are the same old ones everyone uses this time of the year. What with holidays and quite a heavy work load the days have turned into weeks and the weeks to months. This means I just haven't made the time to update the blog. That is now changing.

After a very restfull break in North Wales (pictures in the read more section), I came back to see my Nao sitting waiting patiently for me to do some more work with him. This has lead to a shortlist of development projects that I have put as priority items.

1. Updated version of the Animal Card Game
I will be updating the animal card game. The updated version will provide both English and French versions, a score tracking feature, new animations and additional milestones, such a 5 correct in a row and the like.

2. Google Calendar Integration
I have been looking at the GData api's and my first attempt at getting this all working will be a simple Nao behaviour to tell you what appointments you have on a specific day. I have done some work on this and am retrieving the Calandar data via the .Net api, now I need to think about either, converting the gData code to python (they have an API wrapper for that) or developing a Windows service that feeds the data to Nao.

3. Story Telling
I am very intrigued by the way children react to Nao. It really is quite facinating. With this in mind I wanted to create some additional behaviours for children. The first will be a story telling behaviour that will read its data from an uploaded file, which will contain both the story and references to the animations to be used to tell it. The complete process will eventually include an authoring tool as well.

So that's what is in the pipeline. I will post more frequent updates, videos and pictures as I move forward.

Intel led investment raises $13 million for Aldebaran Robotics

Paris, France — Aldebaran Robotics SA, the world-leading European humanoid robotics company,announced today that the company has raised $13 million in new venture funding.

The series C round of financing was led by Intel Capital, with additional participation from its current investors, CDC Innovation, iSOURCE and CAPE. Aldebaran Robotics currently manufactures and sells advanced, programmable humanoid robots, with the aim of contributing to the well-being of humans, through solutions addressing Personal services, Healthcare and Assistance to Autistic kids. Its products combine a range of facial and voice recognition technologies with location awareness capabilities, providing a flexible platform for application development. The new funds will play a key role in allowing the business to develop its product offering into additional vertical sectors such as health and social care. The investment will also help Aldebaran streamline its production operations and increase its research and development capabilities.

“Working with Intel Capital is a step we believe will propel the business and help the technology we have developed reach its full potential. Our products have the flexibility to provide solutions across a range of applications and this investment will play a huge role in helping drive manufacturing efficiencies and further our research capabilities to help the business’ expansion into new markets. Intel products are ideally suited for the processing demands required by robotics. This investment from Intel Capital enables Aldebaran to become a key player in this nascent industry.” , Bruno Maisonnier, founder and CEO of Aldebaran Robotics said; “It is primarily for us, a fantastic mark of recognition and trust from a group that has always favored innovation and has risen in recent years at the top of the global computer market”.

Intel, world leader in silicon innovation, demonstrates its interest in robotics by investing in Aldebaran Robotics, the world-leading company in humanoid robotics. Marcos Battisti, Managing Director Intel Capital Western Europe and Israel, commented: “Robotics is an area that Intel Capital has been interested in for some time. Aldebaran’s work in areas such as voice interaction and video analytics really highlights the advances made in perceptual computing and has the potential to offer innovative products and solutions across a range of sectors.”

(source:NaoForge)