Nao

Abstract

Treball desenvolupat dins el marc del programa 'European Project Semester'.

The robotics facilities at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA) have at their disposal an autonomous humanoid robot by the name of Nao. It is a commercial product developed by SoftBank Robotics for research and educational purposes, and an international project team was assembled for the European Project Semester (EPS) program as a means of assessing its competencies and bolstering them wherever possible. The team set forth with a mission to establish meaningful interactions between the robot and his physical surroundings while placing an emphasis on humanlike behavior to the fullest extent. A goal was soon initiated for Nao to play a rule-based game against a human opponent such that his vast array of available faculties could be tested and put to use in one cohesive demonstration. Achieving this goal meant making advances in artificial intelligence,computer vision and motion planning, first as separate entities that would later converge into a singular yet multifaceted display of abilities. At the end of the project, computer vision has been implemented to the point where pattern recognition can be performed with accuracy amidst awide variety of error-prone detection scenarios. Several artificial intelligence schemes have been explored and compared quantitatively to derive performance metrics for each. Proof-ofconcept movement strategies have also been derived, and best practices for each focus area are provided as a resource for any future researchers or project groups who stand to benefit from the discoveries made in this endeavor