Auto giant Honda has unveiled its first significant upgrade to its Asimo robot, only a year after the first version was revealed to the public.The original Asimo could walk and run, albeit with a somewhat odd-looking gait, and could avoid tripping over obstacles in its path. The new version has significantly more joints in its limbs and moves in a more human-like fashion, including running in circles. It is also capable of pulling and pushing a cart, and receiving and delivering a tray, making the robot more useful for office tasks.
A selection of movies show the new robot in action. While nobody would be fooled into thinking the device is really a human in a suit, the advances in the range and types of motion available are stunning. Asimo's movement already looks more realistic than many robots drawn with computer-generated graphics in science fiction movies.
The Japanese have a long history of being fascinated by robots. Unlike in the West, where we tend to predict that robots will inevitably turn into evil if sometimes sexy killing machines, people in Japan look at robots as being helpful servants that will help their society deal with an aging population (and when they turn into unstoppable killing machines it's usually for a very good reason.)
The Honda Asimo is, like all current robots, still frustratingly far away from sentience, and is unlikely to go on a campaign of destruction. Honda intends to use the robot as a showcase of its advanced technologies and as a promotional tool for the company. While the robot is not available for sale, the company says it plans to eventually launch leasing programs that will enable other corporations to use Asimo for their promotional events.
Honda engineers are hard at work on Asimo 3.0, where more emphasis will be placed on artificial intelligence and allowing the robot to make more decisions on its own.
Honda engineers are hard at work on Asimo 3.0, where more emphasis will be placed on artificial intelligence and allowing the robot to make more decisions on its own.
