Asimo Robot

Have you seen the Spielberg movie called Al? Al stands for Artificial Intelligence. The movie tells of type of robot that can be bought to live in our own house like a family member. In the very near future we might be able to have that kind of robot since Honda has humanoid robot that can be involved in our daily life.

Friendly design

ASIMO is designed to be people friendly. It’s human-sized with visual sensor (“eyes�} located at the level a sitting adult’s eyes. These features allow the robot to operate light switches and doorknobs and work at tables and workbenches. Image : you can have your personal assistance.

Motile

By raising ASIMO’s shoulder joint’s mounting angle by 200, elbow height has been increased to 15 degrees over hosrizontal, allowing a wider range of work capability. Also, ASIMO’s range of vertical arm movement has been incerased to 1050, compared to P3’s (ASIMO 1950 model) 90-degree range. It enables ASIMO to do a lot of things, such as polishing your shoes, opening the door for you and other stuff.

Mobile

The introduction of intelligent, real-time, flexible-walking I-WALK technology allows ASIMO to change directions while walking continuously, and gives the robot even greater stability is response to sudden movements. The new ASIMO walking Technology features a predicted movement control in addition to the arlier walking control technology. This new two-legged walking technology permits more flexible walking. As a result, ASIMO now walks more smootly and more naturally.

Flexible

A robot’s flexibility is defined in DOF (Degree of Freedom), the more DOF a certain part has, the more flexible it is. The number of DOF defines the number of different ways in which a part of the robot’s body can move. ASIMO’s head has two DOF: one for turning it up and down and one for rotation. In total, ASIMO’s arm has five DOF. The shoulder has three DOF for raising and lowering, moving sideways and for rotating. The elbow and the wrist have one DOF each. Furthermore ASIMO’s hand has one DOF for grasping movement. Each of ASIMO’s leg has six DOF: Three DOF in the hip joint. This high versatility makes ASIMO near perfect for operating in human environment.

Soon Available?

I believe all of you want to have this kind of robot, don’t you? Well, let me tell you this. According to my trusted source the thing currently is worth 10 million yen. It costs a lot of money, doesn’t it? So, if you want to have it, wait for 2 or 3 more years because the prototype for the world market is only now being produced.

References by Asimo Honda