Asimo is 10 years old

Today, October 31, Honda celebrates the 10th anniversary of ASIMO (short for Advanced Step in Innovative MObility), its most advanced humanoid robot in the world. According to the unofficial version, ASIMO got its name in honor of Isaac Asimov, the famous author of the Three Laws of Robotics. In Japanese, the name of the robot is pronounced “Asimo” and consonant with the phrase “As well as legs”.

To celebrate this event, the company launched a special website on which it posted videos and photos detailing the evolution of the robot over the past 10 years. A special application for iPhone and other smartphones was released - “Run with Asimo” to enable ordinary people to try interacting with the virtual version of the robot on their phone. In addition to ASIMO, the program will be available for interaction and other robots released by Honda. Download the application will be from mid-November.

ASIMO was created 10 years ago as part of Honda’s research program in robotics and human mobility. The first robot weighed 52 kg, was 120 cm tall, and had 26 degrees of freedom. After a decade of innovation and development, the robot grew and became heavier; height and weight are 160 cm and 80 kg, respectively. He can run and walk on uneven slopes and surfaces, climb stairs, recognize objects and gestures. ASIMO can understand and respond to simple voice commands, use the Internet and report, for example, news or weather, recognize faces, and even avoid moving obstacles while running.

Honda's research in robotics has also led to breakthroughs in the field of mobility technology, but the absolute goal is to turn ASIMO into a robot that can help people by doing their daily tasks or doing work that is too dangerous for humans.
')
The Japanese company is currently focusing its research on developing the intelligence of ASIMO robots, as well as exploring the possibilities of interaction between humans and humanoid robots.

ASIMO is still not for sale. Some instances of the robot can only be rented from Honda.

via Slashdot