Here's something to make George Orwell turn a notch or two in his grave. Honda's human-shaped robot can now run faster, balance itself on uneven surfaces, hop on one foot, pour a drink and even almost “think” on its own.
Yet Honda's demonstration of the revamped “Asimo” at its Tokyo suburban research facility today was not only to prove that the bubble-headed childlike machine was more nimble and a bit smarter.
Honda was also out to answer criticisms that the original Asimo (first shown in 2000) had been of little practical use so far, proving to be nothing more than a glorified toy and cute showcase for the carmaker.
To that end, Honda President Takanobu Ito announced that some of Asimo's technology was used to develop a robotic arm with the intention of helping with the nuclear crisis in north-eastern Japan.
According to Honda, the mechanical arm can open and close valves at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which went into meltdown after the March tsunami. Honda is currently working with the utility behind the problem plant in an attempt to bring the plant under control.
Ito acknowledged that the first idea was to send in Asimo to help out, but that was not possible because the robot cannot manoeuvre in rubble, and its delicate computer parts would malfunction in radiation.
But in today's demonstration, Asimo was able to walk over 2cm padded bumps on the floor. It can also jog faster than it did in 2005, at 9km/h (up from 6km/h), pushing better with its toes so its run was smoother and not as jerky.
Asimo was also able to distinguish the voices of three people spoken at once, using face recognition and analyzing sound, to figure out that one woman wanted hot coffee, another orange juice, and still another milk tea.
The new Asimo got improved hands as well, allowing individual movement of each finger, so it could do sign language. “My name is Asimo,” it said, making the signs of its words with stubby fingers. It also opened a thermos bottle and gracefully poured juice into a paper cup.
Ito said Asimo had developed autonomous artificial intelligence so that it could potentially manoeuvre itself through crowds of people, without remote control or stopping each time to check on its programming.
But he acknowledged that making robotics into a practical business will take more time, meaning Asimo wasn't about to show up in any home soon.
“Maybe at the start this was a dream of engineers to make a machine that was close to a human being, like Astro Boy,” he said. “We think Asimo is good.” -Sapa/AP & IOL