Honda Updates ASIMO

kosmicki writes "Honda Motor Co. today announced the development of new technologies for the next-generation ASIMO humanoid robot, targeting a new level of mobility that will better enable ASIMO to function and interact with people by quickly processing information and acting more nimbly in real-world environments."

Comments

Videos

[r_glen]

You can see videos of Asimo in action (including his new "tricks") at the Honda site.

Honda vs Sony

[IANAAC]

I recently saw a demo of Sony's Qrio dream robot. I haven't seen Honda's demo, other than the videos on their web page, but Sony's seems to be a bit more intuitive with movements and interaction, particularly head movement. And it jumps and throws too.

Overall, it just seems a bit smoother.

Government sponsered, privately built

[Scrameustache]

Japan has a government sponsored humanoid robot devellopment project. And it seems that rivalry between the major corporation also fuels the R&D.

Honda's Asimo is the best of the bunch, but Sony has a doll sized little "entertainment" robot, and Toyota has a trumpet playing robot, not to mention all the universities working on various robotic sub-projects, like facial expression and whatnot (I thought disney's animatronics had the expressiveness thing figured out, maybe my memory has embelished them somewhat).

Asimov expected the U.S. to be the leader in humanoid robots, he couldn't have foreseen this shift in technological leadership, but at least Honda named their creation after him : )

Re:Government sponsered, privately built

[Anonymous Coward]

He isn't named after Asimov. The name ASIMO is japanese; it means something like "with legs".

Re:Government sponsered, privately built

[Scrameustache]

He isn't named after Asimov. The name ASIMO is japanese; it means something like "with legs".

There's a japanese leg pun in there too, but it is named after Asimov.

From Wikipedia:

The robot's name is a backronym in honor of science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, maker of the Three Laws of Robotics. Officially, the name stands for "Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility". In Japanese, the name is pronounced ashimo and, not coincidentally, means "legs also".

Re:Honda?

[gordo3000]

well, a trading card company became the leader in video games(Nintendo). Every company evolves by what it sees open to it. They both are kind of surprising, but I am sure there are loads more examples.

Re:Asimo == Asimov? Re:anime meets reality

[tarunthegreat2]

I'm sure ASIMO is homage to Asimov, but it's also an acronym for Advanced Step in Innovative MObility (Here's the link). I wonder how long they took to come up with that one...

Re:Anyone...

[FleaPlus]

Here's some related research papers:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=asimo

Mechs do exist - from Toyota!

[PurplePhase]

No, not true Mechs(tm!), but tiny working versions (er, I assume):

Yesterday I'd just been looking in wftv.com's photo-whatever, and saw Toyota's i-Foot and i-Unit AP photo. The page has this caption:

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp.'s new concept vehicles, i-foot, left, and one-seater i-units line up during their unveiling ceremony. The two-legged i-foot, operated by a rider mounted on a seat with a joystick, and the i-unit that resembled a wheelchair, both designed to help people get around, will be displayed at an exposition in Aichi, central Japan, next year. (12/03/04 AP photo)

Google for
Toyota +"i-Foot"
and you get a page with even better photos - lLooks like scaled-up housings from the Honda pictures (or earlier generation?):

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/robots/toyoto-ifo ot -and-iunit-026866.php

8-PP