Robohub.org
 

Python programming your NAO robot


by
09 February 2017



share this:

These videos aim to teach you how to begin programming your NAO with Python. The NAO can be programmed using several programming languages, including C++, MATLAB, JAVA, LabVIEW and Python. Instead of using the drag and drop boxes in the Choreograph, we’re going to get our NAO robot walking and talking using coding.

Tutorial 1: Speech

Helpful hints:

Follow these steps to create a box that we could put our python code into, and have our robot speak: “Hello”. “Hello I am a robot”.

  1. Right click the main section box and go to “add new box”
  2. Create a name for the box
  3. Input main image
  4. Select the type of box

Now we’re having a look at the script. Go into the scripts and click ok. And there we have our NAO little box. If we click into it, we have the python code. What we are going to do is change some of the codes to get our robot to speak.

  1. Double click the box
  2. Select the piece of code you need to alter to get our robot to speak(“def onInput_onStart(self)”)
  3. Take out the pass section
  4. Type in “ttsproxy = ALProxy(“ALTextToSpeech”)”. (Make sure you get the comment in there).
  5. Underneath that, we are going to put “ttsproxy.say” and add the comment “Hello, I am a robot”.

The first line could create an object that gives us access to the robot’s text to speech capabilities. This object is assigned to the variable ttsProxy. We can access the object later through the name ttsProxy. I am going to mount the top line, and the alspeech is there. The second line calls a different function site. This function takes an argument “Hello, I am a robot” and then he uses a string or sequence of characters between two double quoted marks. The robot will speak the string that will pass to the say message aloud.  There are your simple first steps into python and choreograph.

You can now, hopefully, get your NAO robot to talk by using your python programming skills. Now have a play with it’s behavior to see if you can get your NAO to say a longer sentence, or maybe even sing a song. Have a play, and use your imagination!


Tutorial 2: Walking

Helpful hints:

No we’re going get your robot to walk using Python. The NAO can be program to walk to any point using the in-build Python Programming Language instead of using the drag and drop boxes in the choregraphe. Python is more expressive and allows you to do things like computing trigonometric calculations on the robot.

  1. Right click the main section box and go to “add new box”
  2. Create a name for the box
  3. Input main image
  4. Select the type of box

First, we want our robot to stand up. Drag a stand up icon into the box. I am actually using the NAO key so the 3D robot in the robot view, and this because we need to put the robot on connecting so we can see what’s going on quite clearly. Oversee when you are using this on the real robot and never forget to trigger on the motors and connect everything up properly.

Open the Code Box

  1. Go to “def onInput_onStart(self):”
  2. Write “motionProxy = ALProxy(“ALMotion”)”
  3. On the next line write “walkTo(0.2,0.0,0.0)”
  4. End it with “self.onStopped()”

The first line is a proxy called ALmotion, which what is we created here, which allows us to call the motion functions up. The second line is the walkTo, which moves the robot to a specific distance. Now, look on the decimal places: see that .2 is X and Y and the radius, so he’s going to move .2 forward. Then if I start playing with the other numbers here, he’ll move to the Y radius and then to the other turning point as well. The final bit is the self.on. To stop this, we will call and tell the choregraphe to stop the procedure when it is at the end and just simple loop and loop and loop.

If we are good, we should see this now on the 3D NAO. So if I hit play, we can see it walking along. Well done guys, you can now get your NAO Robot to walk by using
your Python programming skills. Tread carefully!


If you liked this article, you may also enjoy these:

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.



tags: , , , , , , , , , ,


Philip English (aka "Robo-Phil) spends his days going to Robotics conventions, reviewing the latest Robots, interviewing Industry experts and trawling the internet for exciting news...
Philip English (aka "Robo-Phil) spends his days going to Robotics conventions, reviewing the latest Robots, interviewing Industry experts and trawling the internet for exciting news...





Related posts :



Livestream of RoboCup2025

  18 Jul 2025
Watch the competition live from Salvador!

Tackling the 3D Simulation League: an interview with Klaus Dorer and Stefan Glaser

and   15 Jul 2025
With RoboCup2025 starting today, we found out more about the 3D simulation league, and the new simulator they have in the works.

An interview with Nicolai Ommer: the RoboCupSoccer Small Size League

and   01 Jul 2025
We caught up with Nicolai to find out more about the Small Size League, how the auto referees work, and how teams use AI.

RoboCupRescue: an interview with Adam Jacoff

and   25 Jun 2025
Find out what's new in the RoboCupRescue League this year.

Robot Talk Episode 126 – Why are we building humanoid robots?

  20 Jun 2025
In this special live recording at Imperial College London, Claire chatted to Ben Russell, Maryam Banitalebi Dehkordi, and Petar Kormushev about humanoid robotics.

Gearing up for RoboCupJunior: Interview with Ana Patrícia Magalhães

and   18 Jun 2025
We hear from the organiser of RoboCupJunior 2025 and find out how the preparations are going for the event.

Robot Talk Episode 125 – Chatting with robots, with Gabriel Skantze

  13 Jun 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Gabriel Skantze from KTH Royal Institute of Technology about having natural face-to-face conversations with robots.

Preparing for kick-off at RoboCup2025: an interview with General Chair Marco Simões

and   12 Jun 2025
We caught up with Marco to find out what exciting events are in store at this year's RoboCup.



 

Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence


 












©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence