Attention NAO fans! We interrupt your programming to bring you an important announcement.

Aldebaran has recently announced that on February 15th, they will be shutting down their current version of their Community website. Many of you who work with the NAO Robot may be familiar with this site as the host of the App Store, the Aldebaran Forum, and the Resource hub, where teachers can download software, curriculum, and everything needed to keep their robot in top shape.

So what does this mean for you? Does this mean Aldebaran is going away? What about the NAO robot? Will you and your classroom no longer receive support?

The answer is, of course, no. The company has indicated that there will be other ways to access the App Store—we won’t be left adrift! However, they have not yet released details about what is coming to replace the old Community Page.

Removing the Community website is a change, but one designed to help the company focus on newer versions of their software and help move users forward. As a result, though, Aldebaran has recommended that any NAO users update both their robot and their Choregraphe software to the latest version (2.1.4) before the change occurs.  This is in order to ensure that any applications currently installed on NAO by the user will still be available when the old site is shut down.

Because we care about our community of educators and robot fanatics, we’ve released a How-To resource teachers can use to guide them through these updates. The resource will walk users through how to locate, download, and install all the updates required to get you up to speed before the 15th. Once you’ve finished, you and your NAO will be ready to join us in our excitement for what Aldebaran is up to next!