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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."
Can it to my homework and clean my room for me yet?
sensors in the wrists to give people objects seems a bit like cheeting.
if they want to make it seem more 'human' then get it to track the person it's interacting withs face with its head. that would up the realism heaps.
Key technologies include:
1) "Posture Control" technology* making it possible to run in a natural human-like way
2) "Autonomous Continuous Movement" technology enabling flexible route to destination
3) Enhanced visual and force sensor technologies enabling smoother interaction with people
These are all things I need too...maybe I can get an upgrade.
Give a hand, not a hand-out.
I don't know about you, but I for one do NOT welcome our humanoid robotic 3 kph overlords.
Does the ASIMO actually advance the field of robotics? Does it come out with revolutionary advances, or just build on those of others?
I don't mean to take anything away from the ASIMO, it's pretty slick, but is it a beacon or a distraction for "real" robotics?
Looks like they are slowly getting better..
Should be interesting once the robots start looking like Robin Williams or (gasp!) Haley Joel Osment.
Hmm..
Friends don't let Friends use Internet Explorer.
You can see videos of Asimo in action (including his new "tricks") at the Honda site.
Overall, it just seems a bit smoother.
movement of new asimo looks very fluid. check out him running and chasing a Japanese chick. it is incredible. this made me wonder if someone would begin using robots in the medical field in the next decade or so.
see here although It may just be a name now.
There is also a time line for ASIMO at Honda.co.jp(japanese) but you can see a graphical history of it here
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 : )
You can't take the sky from me...
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.
The routine was preprogrammed and triggered remotely from backstage over a broadband wireless connection. Everything was scripted - the floor was plastered in tape to help the human actors perform correctly. A few of the markers were triggers for ASIMO to orient itself with before demonstrating an action. It was explained to the crowd that some half-dozen technicians were working backstage, keeping the thing going the whole time.
Now, many of the feats (climbing stairs, walking across a see saw, walking in circles, bracing for a fall) were calculated on the fly by ASIMO. You have to give Honda credit for succeeding in that, but overall ASIMO is just an overblown animatronic puppet.
At least half a year ago, I saw a video of ASIMO jogging. Although the jogging was a joke as a mode of locomotion, it was an interesting demonstration of balance. My question is, how much has ASIMO changed since then? The video of the new ASIMO running looks suspiciously similar to the old one. I have the feeling that this "next-generation" ASIMO is far more capable than these new video demonstrations convey.
And what makes you think ASIMO represents "world leadership" in humanoid robotics?
From a scientific point of view, ASIMO is an expensive glitzy remote-controlled toy that doesn't tell us much at all about humanoid (as in fluent and efficient) sensorimotor coordination. Take humanoid locomotion: it's based on coupled oscillator dynamics, and letting the physics of the body do much of the work for you. ASIMO doesn't do that at all.
For an example of real "world leadership" in robot (in this case: quadruped) locomotion, check out these videos. Less glitzy but way more interesting.
The most amusing aspect of an ASIMO demo is (or at least used to be last time I watched) the half-dozen Japanese engineers hovering nearby in order to fling themselves under their million-dollar toy in case it should keel over.
Be faithful to your obsessions. Identify them and be faithful to them, let them guide you like a sleepwalker. JG Ballard
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...
My Favourite Meme
when there will be a "female" version, and what new "tricks" it will be able to do.
Japan will soon be facing a crisis in elder care. Their options are either to import tens of thousands of foreign nurses and aides or come up with a robotic solution. There is huge political and cultural resistance to importing nurses. The human and animal styled robots are seen as "friendly". The original ASIMO was the size of a grown man. That was seen as threatening, so they rebuilt him boy sized. The ability to adapt easily into a human environment (houses, apartments, nursing homes is also a driving factor)
http://redcone.net
Lets see. At the peak hight half of the total in-air time will have expired and Y velocity is 0. So d = 1/2(9.8)(0.05/2)^2)= 0.0030625m = ~3mm. So its not surprizing if you can't see that with the naked eye.
Force feedback sensors in the wrists aren't cheeting (sic) at all. I'd like to see you negotiate the task of handing someone an object or shaking hands without the ability to distinguish forces acting upon your wrist...
SIERRA TANGO FOXTROT UNIFORM
No, not true Mechs(tm!), but tiny working versions (er, I assume):
o ot -and-iunit-026866.php
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-if
8-PP