HONDA The Power of Dreams

ASIMO

ASIMO has evolved from a mere automatic machine into an autonomous one by gaining the ability to make decisions and act on its own according to the movements of people around it.
Honda identified three factors necessary for a robot to perform as an autonomous machine and developed the technologies needed to achieve them.

<Honda’s three factors necessary for a robot to perform as an autonomous machine>
1. High-level postural balancing capability which enables the robot to maintain its posture by putting out its leg in an instant
2. External recognition capability which enables the robot to integrate information, such as movements of people around it, from multiple sensors and estimate the changes that are taking place
3. Capability to generate autonomous behavior which enables the robot to make predictions from gathered information and autonomously determine the next behavior without being controlled by an operator

By being equipped with these capabilities, ASIMO has gotten closer toward practical use in an environment coexisting with people.

Basic specifications

As of November 2011

Key technologies of ASIMO

Advancement of intelligence capability

Honda developed a system that is a fundamental technology for intelligence, which comprehensively evaluates inputs from various sensors that are equivalent to the visual, auditory, tactile, and other senses of a human being, then estimates the situation of the surrounding environment and determines the corresponding behavior of the robot. With this technology, ASIMO became capable of responding to the movement of people and the surrounding situations, such as by changing its behavior to accommodate the intention of the other party even if it is in the midst of another action. Moreover, coordination between visual and auditory sensors enables ASIMO to simultaneously recognize a face and voice, enabling ASIMO to recognize the voices of multiple people who are speaking simultaneously, which is difficult even for a human being to accomplish.

ASIMO is also capable of predicting the direction a person will walk within the next few seconds based on information from spatial sensors and quickly generating and taking an alternate path to avoid a collision with the person if the predicted movement locations of the person intersect with its own.

Advancement of physical capability

By incorporating strengthened legs, an expanded range of leg movement and a control technology that enables ASIMO to change landing positions in the middle of a motion, ASIMO could continuously carry out actions such as walking, running, running backward, hopping on one leg, and jumping with two legs.
As a result of being able to make such agile motions through this technology, ASIMO has become capable of more flexibly adapting to changing external situations so that it can, for example, walk over an uneven surface while maintaining a stable posture.

Improved task-performing capability

Honda developed a highly functional compact multi-fingered hand, which has a tactile sensor embedded in each palm and a force sensor in each finger. Each finger can be controlled independently. Combined with the object recognition technology based on visual and tactile senses, this multi-fingered hand enabled ASIMO to perform tasks with dexterity, such as picking up a glass bottle and twisting off the cap, or holding a soft paper cup—into which a liquid is being poured—without squishing it.

ASIMO has also become capable of making sign language expressions that require the complex movement of fingers.