Masdar Smart City and Robotics - GineersNow Engineering Magazine Masdar: The Future of Sustainable City in Abu Dhab | Page 75

ROBOTS
CAN NOW
RECORD
YOUR
MEMORIES
Recently, a new feature has been
announced for the humanoid
robot, NAO, by French researchers
working at the Centre National de
la Recherche Scientifique. This new
feature will allow NAO to build up an
autobiographical memory. Sounds
pretty cool, doesn’t it? It is, in fact,
pretty awesome as this technology
can be used in space and can even
reach to far more ordinary tasks like
taking care of the elderly.
The scientific explanation is that a
human can teach NAO new actions
via physical demonstrations, voice
command or visual imitation. Physical
demonstrations are performed by
putting the limbs of the robot in the
correct position while visual imitation
uses the Kinect system. NAO will learn
and store the information gathered
as procedures, which the robot can
later recall and even explain to other
people. That’s quite a nifty skill for a
little robot to have!
This ability to not only learn but also
teach information can be quite useful
for the International Space Station.
After all, in the ISS, astronauts have to
come and go and still solve a problem
right on the spot. In situations
which have not been foreseen, this
ability can be extremely useful. An
experienced astronaut can teach the
solution to a problem to NAO. Later,
when a new crew arrives and the
same problem occurs, NAO can help
the new crew members solve it. In
other words, NAO acts as a guide in
different unexpected scenarios. It will
be capable of providing information
rarely found in manuals. This ability
can also be used for serving people
suffering from short-term memory
loss back here on earth. This can
make NAO a great companion for
taking care of the elderly.
Now, where was NAO during our
exams at school?
Photo by CNRS
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics
75