Aldebaran

Humanoid Robot Founder

Aldebaran is a pioneering French robotics company recognised globally for developing advanced humanoid and social robots designed for education, healthcare, research, hospitality, and customer engagement. Founded in 2005 in Paris, Aldebaran became one of the world’s most influential robotics brands through innovative humanoid robots such as NAO and Pepper, helping shape the future of human-robot interaction and AI-powered service robotics.

The History of Aldebaran Robotics

Founded by Bruno Maisonnier in 2005, Aldebaran quickly gained international recognition for creating approachable humanoid robots designed to interact naturally with people. The company’s flagship robot, NAO, became widely used in universities, research institutions, and robotics competitions around the world. Aldebaran later introduced Pepper, one of the first social humanoid robots capable of recognising emotions and engaging with customers in retail, hospitality, and public environments.

 

Over the years, Aldebaran evolved through multiple ownership and branding transitions, including its period under SoftBank Robotics. In 2025, Maxvision Technology acquired the core assets and intellectual property of Aldebaran, including the NAO and Pepper platforms. These robots are now continued and supported under the Maxtronics brand, which carries forward Aldebaran’s legacy in humanoid robotics development, sales, and customer support.

Advanced Humanoid Robotics Solutions

Aldebaran robots are designed to improve engagement, communication, and interaction between humans and machines. Their humanoid platforms combine artificial intelligence, speech recognition, autonomous movement, and emotional interaction technologies to create meaningful experiences across multiple industries.

NAO Humanoid Robot

NAO became one of the world’s most recognised educational and research robots, used in thousands of schools, universities, and laboratories worldwide. The robot supports STEM education, AI development, programming, robotics research, and human-robot interaction studies.

nao-humanoid-robot-with-student
Woman in a blue blouse stands at a booth, talking to a white humanoid robot with a touchscreen tablet on its chest.

Pepper Social Robot

Pepper was designed as an interactive social robot capable of recognising emotions and communicating with customers naturally. The robot became popular in retail stores, hotels, healthcare facilities, and public environments where businesses wanted to improve customer engagement and automate front-of-house interactions.

Robotics for Education, Healthcare, and Research

Aldebaran humanoid robots have been widely adopted in education, therapy, elderly care, and academic research. Their robots help educators create immersive STEM learning experiences while supporting therapists, caregivers, and researchers with interactive AI-powered technologies.

Education and STEM Learning

Schools and universities use Aldebaran robots to teach robotics, coding, AI, and engineering concepts through hands-on interactive learning experiences.

Research and Human-Robot Interaction

Aldebaran robots continue to serve as trusted research platforms for robotics development, AI experimentation, and human-robot interaction studies worldwide.

Healthcare and Therapy Applications

Humanoid robots are increasingly used in autism therapy, cognitive stimulation, rehabilitation, and elderly care programmes where social interaction and engagement are important.

Aldebaran Products Now Available Under Maxtronics

Today, the renowned NAO and Pepper robotics platforms continue under the Maxtronics brand, which now oversees development, sales, innovation, and customer support for these globally recognised humanoid robots. Maxtronics continues Aldebaran’s mission of creating purposeful humanoid robotics focused on education, healthcare, research, and meaningful human interaction.

Aldebaran Robotics Solutions from Robot Center

Robot Center helps businesses, educational institutions, healthcare providers, and research organisations integrate advanced Aldebaran and Maxtronics humanoid robotics solutions tailored to their operational goals. From interactive customer engagement to STEM education and healthcare support, Robot Center provides expert guidance, deployment, and ongoing support for intelligent robotics automation.

Contact Robot Center

Discover how Aldebaran and Maxtronics humanoid robotics solutions can transform education, customer engagement, healthcare, and AI-powered automation across your organisation.