The annual Nao User and Developer Congress saw participants from around the world who came to Boston to learn about the new use cases and advances in NAO humanoid robotics. Congress attendees enjoyed a Congress Keynote presentation from active MassRobotics collaborator Professor Taskin Padir of Northeastern University discussing the multiple segments of the evolving robot marketplace. Matthias Scheutz, President of Thinking-Robots, a MassRobotics resident, discussed advances in the use of ‘natural language’ programming of robot operating systems and held live demonstrations of Nao robots learning from each other. The Congress also included several breakout sessions, workshops and panels with discussion around the evolution of Nao and use case scenarios including advancing interventions with students with autism.

On the third day of the event, attendees were hosted by MassRobotics in Boston for an informative tour of the facility and shown the many diverse robot systems on hand. The tour was led by MassRobotics’ Laboratory Manager, Russell Nickerson, and included an opportunity to view the NASA Johnson Space Center’s Valkyrie Robot. The visit concluded with a roundtable discussion about the rapidly developing robotics landscape and MassRobotics leadership role.

Thanks to Mike Radice from ChartaCloud for organizing the annual three-day event, and to Foley Hoag for hosting the group.