升级老款机器人感知与交互能力，延长其科研寿命
Enhancing the NAO: Extending Capabilities of Legacy Robots for Long-Term Research
- 为老旧NAO机器人加装麦克风阵列、深度与热成像相机
- 对话质量显著提升，用户偏好度更高且响应无延迟
- 适合长期人机交互研究，可推广至其他旧式机器人
当制造商停止支持后，老旧机器人平台往往失去研究价值，难以集成现代感知、语音与交互功能。本文提出增强版NAO，通过在完全自包含的封装中集成波束成形麦克风、RGB-D与热成像摄像头以及额外算力资源，实现性能跃升。系统结合云端与本地模型完成感知与对话，同时保留NAO原有的表情动作与行为表现。一项初步用户研究表明，增强版NAO在对话质量上显著优于NAO AI版，用户偏好更强，且响应延迟未增加。新增的视觉与热成像模态为未来基于感知的交互奠定基础。该框架具备平台无关性，可广泛用于延长老旧机器人生命周期与科研价值。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Legacy (unsupported) robotic platforms often lose research utility when manufacturer support ends, preventing integration of modern sensing, speech, and interaction capabilities. We present the Enhanced NAO, a revitalized version of Aldebaran's NAO robot featuring upgraded beamforming microphones, RGB-D and thermal cameras, and additional compute resources in a fully self-contained package. This system combines cloud-based and local models for perception and dialogue, while preserving the NAO's expressive body and behaviors. In a pilot user study validating conversational performance, the Enhanced NAO delivered significantly higher conversational quality and elicited stronger user preference compared to the NAO AI Edition, without increasing response latency. The added visual and thermal sensing modalities established a foundation for future perception-driven interaction. Beyond this implementation, our framework provides a platform-agnostic strategy for extending the lifespan and research utility of legacy robots, ensuring they remain valuable tools for human-robot interaction.
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