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New, More Autonomous Asimo Robot Unveiled By Honda
An anonymous reader writes "Honda has just unveiled a new, upgraded version of its famous humanoid robot, Asimo. Its appearance didn't change much, but the new robot is lighter, faster, and stronger. It can walk on uneven surfaces, run backwards, and even jump on one foot. The new Asimo also has more dexterous hands and better image and voice recognition to interact with people. Honda's big push is clearly in the direction of making Asimo more autonomous, and useful, in human environments."
I want to see Asimo riding atop an Alpha Dog. Just preferably, not towards me with a "kill all humans" sign.
...welcome our new robotic slaves.
New, Less Autonomous Honda Corporation Unveiled by Asimo!
It looks like some kid with a costume.
Perhaps I'm trolling, perhaps I'm not.
I have no idea what I'd do with it, but I want one. If anyone was looking for a Christmas gift idea for me, look no further.
I'm genuinely impressed, that's faster than a lot of people are able to jog at.
welcome just kidding that was so old a very long time ago...
When is the next revision of the HRP-4C coming out?
If you look at the pics in TFA, it seems Asimo can also mix drinks, throw up the horns, and hit on multiple chicks at once.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
South Park already did this with Awesome-o!
Evidence: Awesome-O
They're not so good with stairs though.
Now how will we guarantee that it doesn't injure humans? I don't care that it may, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; that would be like having no robot.
What I want to see is a robot design that won't go berserk if its control program throws an exception, making it move its powerful arms uncontrolled or fail to recognize were its fellow humans are located.
Singularity: a belief in the "God" idea with the "demiurge" relation inverted.
but I was hoping this upgrade would include "not walking like it's trying to suppress an explosive diarrhea incident".
That would be my first priority.
...this is the worst you'd have to worry about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASoCJTYgYB0
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
Why is it that a company that can build something cool like that is the same one that says it'd take at least 6 freakin' weeks to build me a new Civic? That was AFTER the dealer tried to string me along of course. (Didn't work - I bought a Nissan instead.)
Dear goodness I hope if/when they ever start mass-producing these that buying one isn't like buying a car. "Sorry we don't have that model and colour in stock right now but we do have the deluxe model Asimo with Chrome finishing. Oh and be sure to get the undercoating and rustproofing package on your Asimo for long-lasting protection."
"Jumping on one foot" is normally called "hopping".
Leela: "Is all the work done by children?" Alien: "No, not the whipping."
Seriously, I looked on the website but couldn't find out how much an Asimo would cost... I mean, if there's just the one then that makes sense, but Honda is [i]Honda[/i]. It's not like they don't have any experience mass producing advanced machinery and electronics on some kind of assembly line.
So how can I buy one? Not for personal use of course, it would be a corporate expense... which we would use.. somehow for something.
.. and then let it Kick Asimo!
I am totally ready to buy -- even if it's *quite* expensive -- when I can buy a dependable robot in humanoid form that does all our housework. Wash (or load and start) the dishes, sweep/vacuum the floors, wash windows, do the laundry, sort and put away when clean, change the bedding and make the bed, clean the sinks, toilets, shower and tub, dust, polish the woodwork, bring coffee, cook and serve dinner, clean up afterwards, feed and water the cat, clean the catbox, be able to put away CDs and DVDs in alpha/title order, put away anything else where it goes, understand English at a decent level appropriate to its tasks, and be seriously off-putting (through the intercom) to religious folk and salespeople who come to the door.
Doesn't have to do outdoor work like mow the lawn, etc., thing will probably be as expensive as my house, at least initially, so I don't think we'd be comfortable with it wandering around outside... and besides, there's plenty to do in the house. :o)
If it's *really* humanoid, say french maid / english butler quality, I'll pay more.
I mean, I'm glad they've got Asimo v.X jumping on one foot. That kind of dexterity has got to be there, along with everything else... but it sure doesn't make the sale for me.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Looks like we're almost close enough to have humanoid robots that can replace humans, but it still lacks a few things.
- A face. This would suffice http://mekabot.com/products/humanoid-head/
When a robot doesn't have a head or face, it's not "human-enough" to be considered something to be respected. The Meka head actually has a "emotive" presence, eg it can look upset if you shove it around.
- It needs to stand up slightly more human, the way Asimo walks kinda looks like part of a Russian dance, not walking. This is fixable just by changing it's center of balance, and making the legs move more like a human (which is to say, not simply swinging front to back, but rather swinging around) but it's pretty good so far. From an efficiency stand point, it's probably inefficient to make it walk like it's wearing stilettos but, but less scary looking if it can move gracefully.
The hands look pretty good. The first thing that came to mind was that scene from Short Circuit that was rather stiff, except this was more smooth.
But anyhow, I'm getting the impression that we are currently around the 1970's era in terms of computer age in comparison to robots. the 1970's was when computers were expensive, and companies might have had only one of them if they had a use for one. Come 1980's computer prices dropped by 90% allowing everyone to have one. Right now, all but the most expensive computers are half the price of where they were in the 1980's. Taking into account inflation (110% increase) they're actually closer to a quarter of the price, and Apple's computers are actually about half the price they were. So right now a robot would have to cost around 60,000$ before every business with a use for one might want one, and 6000$ in today's dollars before the average user would buy one.
If I push him will he fall over? ...I for one welcome our new robotic overlords.
If it was really autonomous, wouldn't it unveil itself?
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"...making Asimo more autonomous, and useful, in human environments." So long as we're still useful in robotic environments.
Maybe we should couple Asimo with Siri. Maybe we'll end up with a wittier C3PO
does it perform better at stairs?
Where is the lightweight and faster Asimo Type-R?
I can't help but recall the immortal words of Karl Pilkington on seeing the Asimo: "It walks like it's shit itself.".
Call me when it can walk like it doesn't have to take a dump...