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Choregraphe Download Page for NAO Robot (Official & Trusted Sources)


 

What is Choregraphe?

Choregraphe is the official graphical programming IDE for the SoftBank Robotics NAO robot, allowing:

  • Drag-and-drop behavior design

  • Python scripting (NAOqi SDK integration)

  • Motion, speech, vision, and sensor control

  • App deployment directly to the robot

It is primarily used in education, research, and prototyping.

Official & Semi-Official Download Sources

1. RobotLAB – Choregraphe Download (Most Accessible)

Best option if you no longer have SoftBank credentials

  • Website: RobotLAB

  • Provides Choregraphe for:

    • NAO v6 (AI Edition compatible)

    • NAO v5

    • NAO v4

  • Requires a simple form submission

  • Suitable for Windows & macOS

Recommended for universities and independent researchers

RobotLAB



2. Maxtronics – NAO6 Software Downloads

Focused on NAO v6 firmware and tools

  • Includes:

    • NAO system images

    • SDK-related utilities

    • Support documentation

  • Useful when reflashing or restoring NAO v6

Maxtronics

3. SoftBank Robotics Community (Official – Restricted)

Original source (now gated)

  • Requires:

    • Registered robot serial number

    • SoftBank Robotics Community account

  • Provides:

    • Choregraphe

    • NAOqi SDK

    • Firmware images

    • Documentation

SoftBank Robotics



Note: Since NAO is officially discontinued, new registrations are difficult.

4. National Instruments – NAO SDK Library (LabVIEW)

For LabVIEW users, not Choregraphe users.

  • Native LabVIEW bindings for NAOqi

  • Used in engineering labs

  • Not suitable for beginners

National Instruments

5. OpenNAO / NAO Flasher (Advanced / Recovery)

Used for:

  • Firmware recovery

  • System reinstallation

  • Boot repair

Commonly referenced by:

  • Carnegie Mellon University

  • Research labs

Carnegie Mellon University

Recommended Version Matrix (Important)

NAO ModelChoregraphe VersionPythonStatus
NAO v62.8.xPython 2.7Stable
NAO v52.5.xPython 2.7Stable
NAO v42.1–2.4Python 2.6Legacy
NAO v7❌ Not released—Cancelled

Common Searches – Clarified

  • “Choregraphe 2.5 download” → Use RobotLAB

  • “Choregraphe Pepper download” → Pepper uses same IDE, different profiles

  • “NAO robot software free” → No longer officially free without legacy access

  • “NAO robot v7” → Never commercially released

Practical Recommendation (2026)

If you are:

  • Academic / Researcher → RobotLAB + NAO v6

  • Legacy NAO user → Use existing SoftBank installer backups

  • Flutter / AI developer integrating NAO → Use NAOqi Python SDK + Choregraphe only for motion calibration

Given your prior NAO Hindi interaction and Flask-based AI integration, the optimal setup remains:

  • Choregraphe (motion + behavior graph)

  • External Python AI services (Flask / REST)

  • Socket or HTTP bridge to NAOqi



1. Choregraphe Installation (Offline-Safe, Repeatable)

Supported Platforms

  • Windows 10 / 11 (x64) – Best stability

  • macOS Intel – Stable up to macOS 12

  • macOS Apple Silicon – Requires Rosetta (workable, not officially supported)

  • Linux – Deprecated (manual fixes only)

Recommended Install Order

  1. Install Choregraphe

  2. Install NAOqi SDK (Python 2.7)

  3. Validate Robot Connection

  4. Lock environment (do not auto-update OS or Python)

Verification Checklist

  • Choregraphe opens without plugin errors

  • Robot IP reachable (ping)

  • “Robot View” loads camera stream

  • “Speech” box executes successfully

2. NAOqi Architecture (What Actually Runs on the Robot)

Core Runtime

  • NAOqi = Modular middleware running on NAO’s Linux OS

  • Each capability is a service (ALTextToSpeech, ALMotion, ALVisionRecognition, etc.)

Execution Model

  • Choregraphe does not replace NAOqi

  • It orchestrates services via:

    • Python boxes

    • Behavior graphs

    • Event signals

Critical Insight

Choregraphe is best used for:

  • Motion authoring

  • Event logic

  • Demo flows

AI logic must live externally (Python services).

3. Production-Grade Architecture (Recommended)

[ Flutter / Web UI ]
          |
          v
[ Flask / FastAPI AI Layer ]
 (ASR, NLP, CV, LLM, Rules)
          |
          v
[ NAOqi Python Client ]
 (ALProxy / qi.Session)
          |
          v
[ NAO Robot ]

Why This Architecture Works

  • Avoids Python 2.7 limitations

  • Enables modern AI (Whisper, Vision, LLMs)

  • Keeps robot logic deterministic and safe

  • Scales beyond a single robot

4. Face Recognition & Passport-Style Profile Images (NAO-Compatible)

Best Practice Pipeline

  1. External Camera / NAO Camera

  2. Face Detection (RetinaFace / MediaPipe)

  3. Mask Detection (CNN / YOLO)

  4. Face Alignment

    • Eyes horizontal

    • Centered face

    • Neutral background

  5. Auto-Crop (35×45 or square)

  6. Quality Checks

    • Blur

    • Occlusion

    • Lighting

  7. Final Image → NAOqi / Database

Why NOT Native NAO Face Recognition?

  • ALFaceDetection is outdated

  • Low accuracy under masks

  • No alignment control

5. NAO Motion & Speech: Precision Control

Motion (ALMotion)

  • Use Choregraphe only for motion capture

  • Export joint values

  • Reuse in Python

Speech (ALTextToSpeech)

  • Prefer external TTS for Indian languages

  • Stream WAV → NAO speaker

Result: Natural speech without NAO’s robotic tone.

6. Firmware, Recovery & Longevity

Tools You Must Archive

  • OpenNAO images

  • NAO Flasher

  • Choregraphe installers

  • Python 2.7 SDK

Why This Matters

  • NAO is EOL

  • Official links disappear

  • Hardware still valuable for:

    • HRI research

    • Education

    • Public service kiosks

7. Common Failure Modes & Fixes

ProblemRoot CauseFix
Robot not detectedFirewall / wrong subnetDisable firewall, static IP
Camera blackBandwidth saturationLower resolution
Python box failsMissing SDK pathSet PYTHONPATH
macOS crashApple SiliconRun via Rosetta
Face recognition unstableLightingExternal AI pipeline

8. What to Use Choregraphe For (and NOT)

Use It For

  • Motion authoring

  • Behavior demos

  • Event routing

  • Teaching robotics basics

Do NOT Use It For

  • NLP

  • Face recognition

  • Analytics

  • Cloud integration

  • Production AI logic

9. Strategic Recommendation (Based on Your Background)

Given your:

  • NAO Hindi interaction work

  • Flask-based AI services

  • Research orientation

Best setup

  • Choregraphe → motion + behavior shell

  • Flask/FastAPI → AI brain

  • Flutter → control & monitoring UI

  • Database → visitor / interaction logs

This keeps the robot reliable, extensible, and future-proof.


Ultra-Detailed NAO + Choregraphe Engineering Guide

11. Exact Download Strategy (2026-Proof)

Because SoftBank Robotics has restricted community access, the correct strategy is redundancy.

What You MUST Download and Archive

Store these offline (USB + NAS + cloud):

  1. Choregraphe installers

    • Choregraphe-2.8.x-win64.exe

    • Choregraphe-2.8.x-mac.dmg

  2. NAOqi Python SDK

    • pynaoqi-python2.7-*.tar.gz

  3. OpenNAO firmware images

    • opennao-atom-system-image.opn

  4. NAO Flasher utility

  5. Documentation PDFs (local copies)

Primary non-gated source
RobotLAB

Firmware & recovery reference
Maxtronics

12. Offline Installation (Exact Sequence)

Windows (Recommended)

  1. Disable antivirus temporarily

  2. Install Choregraphe as Administrator

  3. Install Python 2.7.18 (64-bit)

  4. Extract NAOqi SDK

  5. Set environment variables:

PYTHONHOME=C:\Python27
PYTHONPATH=C:\pynaoqi\lib
PATH+=C:\Python27;C:\pynaoqi\bin

  1. Launch Choregraphe → Preferences → Python → point to Python 2.7

macOS (Intel / Apple Silicon)

  • Apple Silicon must use Rosetta

  • Disable Gatekeeper temporarily

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine Choregraphe.app

13. Network Architecture (Most Common Failure Point)

Golden Rules

  • Robot and PC same subnet

  • Disable VPN

  • Disable corporate firewall

  • Prefer Ethernet over Wi-Fi

Static IP (Recommended)

DeviceIP
NAO192.168.1.10
PC192.168.1.20

14. Choregraphe Internals (Advanced)

Behavior Execution Model

  • Behaviors compile into:

    • .xar (behavior graph)

    • Python bytecode

  • Deployed via SCP

  • Executed by NAOqi Behavior Manager

Event System

  • Based on ALMemory

  • Signals are string-based

  • Event latency: ~30–60 ms

Important
Event overload causes behavior deadlocks.

15. Python Box vs External Python (Critical Distinction)

AspectPython BoxExternal Python
Python Version2.73.x
StabilityLowHigh
AI Libraries❌✅
Production❌✅

Rule
Python boxes should be thin wrappers only.

16. Recommended AI Integration Pattern (Battle-Tested)

Choregraphe
  ↓ (Event / REST Trigger)
Lightweight Python Box
  ↓
External Flask / FastAPI
  ↓
AI Models (CV / NLP / ASR)
  ↓
NAOqi Commands

This pattern:

  • Prevents robot crashes

  • Enables hot AI updates

  • Keeps NAO deterministic

17. Hindi / Marathi Speech (Practical Reality)

NAO native TTS:

  • Poor Indian language support

  • Robotic prosody

Correct Solution

  1. Generate speech externally (Coqui / Festival / Cloud TTS)

  2. Convert to 16-bit WAV

  3. Stream via ALAudioPlayer

Result: Human-grade output, no NAO accent artifacts.

18. Face Recognition Under Masks (Government-Grade)

Production Rules

  • Never rely on ALFaceDetection

  • Always perform face alignment

  • Mask detection must run before recognition

  • Maintain face embedding versioning

19. Security Hardening (Ignored by Most Labs)

  • Disable SSH password login

  • Restrict NAO ports (9559 only)

  • Run AI server on separate VLAN

  • Log all commands issued to robot

This is mandatory for:

  • DM offices

  • Public installations

  • Citizen-facing robots

20. NAO End-of-Life Strategy (Very Important)

NAO is discontinued, not obsolete.

How to Keep It Useful

  • Treat NAO as a peripheral device

  • Keep intelligence off-robot

  • Freeze firmware

  • Archive installers

This gives 5–7 more usable years.

21. What Choregraphe Still Does Best

  • Motion choreography

  • Behavior demos

  • Education

  • Sensor visualization

Everything else → external AI.

22. What I Can Provide Next (No Guesswork)

I can now deliver ready-to-use assets, not theory:

  1. Exact verified installer filenames

  2. NAO ↔ Flask REST API code

  3. Face recognition + mask detection Python pipeline

  4. Passport-style image generator

  5. Visitor / Assistant robot workflow

  6. Choregraphe behavior templates

  7. Government deployment checklist

  8. Disaster recovery SOP for NAO









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