Earlier in March, I was very curious what has happened to ASIMO, the beloved bipedal robot designed by Honda’s Robotics research team. I had set out to ask Honda about when we will begin to see progress since it seemed that almost no progress was being made but Honda reassured me to wait just a few weeks. That time has passed and now we’re in for a real treat after its new release.If you don’t know already, ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) is one of the world’s most popular and advanced robots. It derives its technology from vehicle R&D and is a testament to what Honda can achieve. ASIMO has gone through many revisions over the years and managed to innovate and solve many complex problems involving bipedal robots. While it may not look like it, balancing is incredibility difficult to do. It takes amazing hardware and software to make it all happen under the stress of hundreds to thousands of parts. In Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker built C3P0 on his own to help his mother with chores, and while it may never be possible for a child to build a fully functional robot on their own, one of Honda’s goals is to have ASIMO helping elders, those with disabilities and in hospitals. ASIMO may one day be used in schools as a teacher or teacher’s aide, firefighter, and in the medical field.ASIMO can walk, run, hop, serve drinks, stand on one foot, walk up and down stairs, dance, and follow basic commands. When I had showed my wife ASIMO just a few weeks ago, it was the first time she had ever seen a bipedal robot and she was very much impressed how smooth the little guy can move. The latest revision of ASIMO was reviled for the first time in North America just a few days ago with a few new features. ASIMO sports a 13-pound lithium-ion cell on its back which is conveniently stashed within its “backpack”. This battery now allows ASIMO to be powered for 40-minutes of continuous walking, which is just enough to take your robot out for a walk and impress your neighbors.As it turns out, this 4’3ft(130cm), 110lb(50kg) robot is always balancing. When it stands on one foot, it is balancing, when it walks, it is balancing, when it just stands on two feet doing nothing, it’s balancing. Meaning even while it stands, it’s draining a lot of energy. This may seem a little insane to waste energy but it’s very much like how we are, we waste energy standing and making sure that we continue to stand. Just this feat alone is impressive in the robotics field because if you accidentally walk into ASIMO or it accidentally walks into you, it will keep its balance somehow with the internal wizardry that it contains. Black magic? We’d like to think so.Honda is always striving to improve ASIMO, one way is to get rid of the creepy factor. You see, ASIMO wasn’t always cute like it is right now, take for example one of the earlier models, the P3. It was taller, wider; it had sluggish movements and claw hands. Unless you’re a mad scientist and want to strike fear in the hearts of people, you wouldn’t normally introduce such a robot in just any household which is probably why Honda waited for ASIMO version 1 before unveiling their works to the public. Many people still fear robots especially humanoid robots, but putting fear aside for a moment it’s more or less about the psychology of human and robot interaction. Take for instance, ASIMO Version 2, whom had poor dexterity (but still very impressive) in contrast to Version 3 (the current version), it can not only communicate with sign language but it can also use visual cues like people do while talking. This ability makes ASIMO seem less creepy and appear more like a person. Fluidity, dexterity, size improvements and functionality are all a big part of ASIMO and the development team overseeing ASIMO are striving to make ASIMO seem more people friendly without making it look too human.The next version, ASIMO Version 4 is in early development but we heard that developers have stated that the next version will have improved intelligence that will allow itself to learn dynamically within its environment without having to program new tasks. It’s believed that ASIMO will be given the ability to make choices rather than just follow basic commands. Additionally, Honda will continue to find ways to make ASIMO seem friendlier. Not much else is known at this point but what we do know is that we want one. If you’re on your way to Disneyland this summer, you may get your chance to see ASIMO version 3 in person, otherwise you will either have to wait until ASIMO goes on tour near you or you fork over an untold amount of money (probably millions) to own one, for now.ASIMO is a product of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. All images found around this news article are property of their rightful owners.

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