Photo: Honda
When Elon Musk said Tesla would build a humanoid robot and put a person in a Spandex suit dancing on a stage, it looked like a joke. Despite that, the Tesla CEO has since said it was for real and that it would be a panacea. If that were really the case, Honda would probably have sold the Asimo, but it announced it would retire the humanoid robot instead.
The first generation of Asimo was presented in October 2000 in Japan, and it made its first public appearance in the U.S. at the New York Stock Exchange. Asimo may look just like a tribute to Isaac Asimov. However, it is an acronym for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility.
Honda proudly presents it as “the world’s most advanced humanoid robot” on the outdated website it created for this machine. Born at 1.20 meters (47 inches), Asimo retained that height in its first three generations, which used nickel-metal hydride batteries. The humanoid robot grew slightly in the four final ones, presented in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2011. These 1.30-meter (51-in) robots already had lithium-ion cells.
The fact that Honda did not present any new generation after 2011 is a clear indication that the company lost interest in further developing the little robot. To be fair, Honda had already warned it would not continue the commercial development of the Asimo after 2018. If Honda gave up on that, that must have two reasons: either there was no market for such a robot, or it would be too expensive ever to justify mass production.
For fans of robotics, that was a pity: Asimo was capable of walking on two legs, recognizing people, gestures, sounds, and faces. That made it able to interact with people. The little robot could walk at 2.7 kph (1.7 mph) and run at 9 kph (5.6 mph). It could also jump and kick soccer balls.
Honda used to put Asimo to perform regular shows at its Tokyo head office. The last one was on March 31. According to NHK, it even danced – without wearing a Spandex suit and with no human inside it. Honda said it will keep Asimo on display and will try to develop avatar robots instead.
Honda proudly presents it as “the world’s most advanced humanoid robot” on the outdated website it created for this machine. Born at 1.20 meters (47 inches), Asimo retained that height in its first three generations, which used nickel-metal hydride batteries. The humanoid robot grew slightly in the four final ones, presented in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2011. These 1.30-meter (51-in) robots already had lithium-ion cells.
The fact that Honda did not present any new generation after 2011 is a clear indication that the company lost interest in further developing the little robot. To be fair, Honda had already warned it would not continue the commercial development of the Asimo after 2018. If Honda gave up on that, that must have two reasons: either there was no market for such a robot, or it would be too expensive ever to justify mass production.
For fans of robotics, that was a pity: Asimo was capable of walking on two legs, recognizing people, gestures, sounds, and faces. That made it able to interact with people. The little robot could walk at 2.7 kph (1.7 mph) and run at 9 kph (5.6 mph). It could also jump and kick soccer balls.
Honda used to put Asimo to perform regular shows at its Tokyo head office. The last one was on March 31. According to NHK, it even danced – without wearing a Spandex suit and with no human inside it. Honda said it will keep Asimo on display and will try to develop avatar robots instead.
Google News