ASIMO

1
ASIMO
2

• Want a robot to cook your dinner,
• Do your homework,
• Clean your house,
• Or get your groceries?
• Robots already do a lot of the jobs that we
  humans don't want to do, can't do, or simply
  can't do as well as our robotic counterparts. In
  factories around the world, disembodied robot
  arms assemble cars, delicately place candies into
  their boxes, and do all sorts of tedious jobs.

3
Many of us grew up watching robots on TV and in
the movies

• Rosie, the Jetsons' robot housekeeper
• Data, the android crewmember on "Star Trek The
  Next Generation
• C3PO from "Star Wars"

4

• The Honda Motor Company developed ASIMO, which
  stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility,
  and is the most advanced humanoid robot in the
  world. According to the ASIMO Web site, ASIMO is
  the first humanoid robot in the world that can
  walk independently and climb stairs

5
In addition to ASIMO's ability to walk like we
do, it can also

• Understand preprogrammed gestures and spoken
  commands
• Recognize voices
• Recognize faces
• Interface with IC Communication cards.
• ASIMO has arms and hands so it can do things
  like turn on light switches, open doors, carry
  objects, and push carts.

6

• Rather than building a robot that would be
  another toy, Honda wanted to create a robot that
  would be a helper for people -- a robot to help
  around the house, help the elderly, or help
  someone confined to a wheelchair or bed. ASIMO is
  4 feet 3 inches (1.3 meters) high, which is just
  the right height to look eye to eye with someone
  seated in a chair. This allows ASIMO to do the
  jobs it was created to do without being too big
  and menacing.

7
(No Transcript)
8
WALKING LIKE A HUMAN

• Honda researchers began by studying the legs of
  insects, mammals, and the motion of a mountain
  climber with prosthetic legs to better understand
  the physiology and all of the things that take
  place when we walk -- particularly in the joints.
  For example, the fact that we shift our weight
  using our bodies and especially our arms in order
  to balance was very important in getting ASIMO's
  walking mechanism right. The fact that we have
  toes that help with our balance was also taken
  into consideration ASIMO actually has soft
  projections on its feet that play a similar role
  to the one our toes play when we walk. This soft
  material also absorbs impact on the joints, just
  as our soft tissues do when we walk.

9

• ASIMO has hip, knee, and foot joints. Robots have
  joints that researchers refer to as "degrees of
  freedom." A single degree of freedom allows
  movement either right and left or up and down.
  ASIMO has 34 degrees of freedom spread over
  different points of its body in order to allow it
  to move freely. There are three degrees of
  freedom in ASIMO's neck, seven on each arm and
  six on each leg. The number of degrees of freedom
  necessary for ASIMO's legs was decided by
  measuring human joint movement while walking on
  flat ground, climbing stairs and running.

10
ASIMOS SENSES

• ASIMO's vision system consists of two basic video
  cameras for eyes, located in its head. ASIMO uses
  stereoscopic vision and a proprietary vision
  algorithm that lets it see, recognize, and avoid
  running into objects even if their orientation
  and lighting are not the same as those in its
  memory database. These cameras can detect
  multiple objects, determine distance, perceive
  motion, recognize programmed faces and even
  interpret hand motions. For example, when you
  hold your hand up to ASIMO in a "stop" position,
  ASIMO stops. The facial recognition feature
  allows ASIMO to greet "familiar" people.

11
CONTINUED.

• ASIMO is not an autonomous robot. It can't enter
  a room and make decisions on its own about how to
  navigate. ASIMO either has to be programmed to do
  a specific job in a specific area that has
  markers that it understands, or it has to be
  manually controlled by a human.

12
ASIMO can be controlled by four methods

• PC
• Wireless controller (sort of like a joystick)
• Gestures
• Voice commands

13

• ASIMO can recognize and react to several gestures
  and body postures, allowing users to command
  ASIMO nonverbally. You can point to a particular
  spot you want ASIMO to walk towards, for example,
  and it will follow your lead. If you wave to
  ASIMO, it will respond with a wave of its own. It
  can even recognize when you want to shake its
  hand.

14
ASIMOS FUTURE

• As development continues on ASIMO, today Honda
  demonstrates ASIMO around the world to encourage
  and inspire young students to study the sciences.
  And in the future, ASIMO may serve as another set
  of eyes, ears, hands and legs for all kinds of
  people in need. Someday ASIMO might help with
  important tasks like assisting the elderly or a
  person confined to a bed or a wheelchair. ASIMO
  might also perform certain tasks that are
  dangerous to humans, such as fighting fires or
  cleaning up toxic spills.

15
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON ASIMO VISIT

• http//asimo.honda.com/default.aspx