The trusted humanoid robot for education, healthcare and research, from Maxtronics
Developed by Maxtronics (formerly Aldebaran Robotics), the NAO robot is a small humanoid robot designed for education, healthcare, research, and human-robot interaction. Standing 58cm tall with 25 degrees of freedom, NAO is built to move, speak and interact naturally with people in classrooms, labs, clinics and public spaces. Unlike bespoke robotics projects, NAO is a proven commercial platform that can be programmed and deployed quickly. NAO combines:
This makes the NAO robot ideal for environments where human connection, learning, and research matter.
The NAO robot is a proven humanoid platform used by schools, universities, hospitals and research institutions worldwide. With the right setup and support from Robot Centre, NAO helps organisations deliver engaging STEM education, therapeutic support, and cutting-edge robotics research.
As a NAO specialist, Robot Center helps organisations buy, hire, deploy and support NAO robots as the official UK distributor for Maxtronics.
The NAO robot is popular because it can be used across multiple sectors and environments. It combines expressive humanoid movement with natural interaction, making it suitable for both classroom teaching and long-term research deployment.
Some of the most common real-world uses for the NAO robot include:
NAO is widely used in schools, colleges and universities to teach programming, AI and robotics. With Choregraphe’s low-code interface and a full Python/C++ SDK, NAO has been the standard robot platform for RoboCup for more than 15 years.
NAO is used as a therapeutic mediator for children with cognitive disorders and autism spectrum disorder. Its predictable, calm behaviour helps children build communication, social and motor skills, and NAO has supported more than 15 years of clinical autism research worldwide.
Universities and research institutions use NAO to study human-robot interaction, AI, and social robotics, supported by an active global developer community and robust software tools.
NAO supports healthcare and elderly care settings by providing companionship, guided activities and interactive engagement, helping care teams deliver more consistent and engaging support.
Primary and secondary schools use NAO with generative AI tools to create personalised lessons in literature, languages, history and science, no coding experience required.
NAO can also be used to create memorable demonstrations at exhibitions, conferences and corporate briefings, showcasing humanoid robotics and AI in action.
The NAO robot combines expressive humanoid movement with rich sensing and simple, low-code programming. It’s built to interact naturally with people in classrooms, labs, clinics and public spaces without complicated setup.
Key NAO robot features include:
These features make NAO a strong option for organisations that want a reliable, proven humanoid robot platform for education, research, healthcare and human-robot interaction.
There are three common ways organisations get started with the NAO robot, depending on their goals, budget, and how quickly they want to deploy.
Buying NAO is the best option if you want a long-term robotics platform for teaching, research or therapy. Purchase is ideal for schools, universities, clinics and research teams using NAO for ongoing programmes.
Hiring NAO is a popular option for short-term projects such as open days, conferences, product launches and pilot studies. It’s also a smart way to trial NAO before committing to a purchase.
For hire enquiries, see our dedicated page: temi Robot Hire UK
For larger organisations, NAO can be deployed across multiple schools, faculties or care settings with training, curriculum support, and integration planning. This ensures the robot performs consistently and delivers long-term learning or research value.
To get the best results from the NAO robot, successful setup and programming support matters. While NAO is designed to be intuitive with Choregraphe and its SDK, performance and outcomes can vary depending on the application, environment and level of in-house robotics experience.
We provide UK-based support to help customers configure, programme and get the most from NAO.
Whether you are introducing NAO into a single classroom or deploying it across an entire institution, proper planning ensures you get reliable performance and real long-term value.
If you’d like help choosing the right NAO setup, want hire availability for an event or trial, or need UK support for deployment, contact our team today and we’ll advise you quickly.
We can support you with temi robot hire, purchase options, setup, programming, and real-world deployment advice.
Call: 0845 528 0404
Email: sales@robotcenter.co.uk
The NAO robot is used for education, research, healthcare, and therapeutic support. It’s widely adopted in schools, universities, hospitals and research centres for STEM teaching, human-robot interaction studies, and autism therapy.
NAO robot pricing depends on whether you are buying or hiring, the software package required, and the level of setup and training needed. Contact us for an accurate quote.
Yes. NAO is a 58cm tall humanoid robot with 25 degrees of freedom, designed to move, speak and interact in a natural, human-like way.
Yes. NAO supports around 20 languages, making it a useful tool for language learning and international deployments.
Yes. NAO robot hire is available in the UK for events, open days, conferences and short-term trials. UK delivery, setup and optional on-site support can be provided depending on requirements.
NAO comes with ready-made activities and a low-code Choregraphe interface, so no programming experience is required to get started. For advanced projects, a full Python/C++ SDK is also available.
