
The New Asimo Robot - nextparadigms
http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/08/hondas-asimo-robot-sheds-a-few-pounds-gets-all-autonomous-on-u/
======
bane
Something that's always impressed me about Japanese robotics efforts is the
level of polish in the efforts. Complete cases (skins) on the robots makes
them feel much more advanced than the non-Japanese efforts I've seen. It's
this thinking about industrial design, along with the awesome technology that
makes something like ASIMO feel like an almost commercial off-the-shelf
technology.

I've like to know much more about the software functions of the robot as well,
which sadly, they don't go into much during the demos.

~~~
gerggerg
Also they seem to find the time to make robots that do other things than help
with military action.

------
leyfa
What's the state of the art in humanoid or multi-pedal robots in terms of
robustness and flexibility of their movement and balance? I assume ASIMO isn't
as stable and stress resistant as the robots of Boston Dynamics, for example
<http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_petman.html>

~~~
abrimo
Asimo seems quite a bit more advanced overall than those robots. They are
designed for quite specific purposes and domain - it's hard to tell but they
also don't seem autonomous. With Asimo, Handa is going for a general purpose
robot that can emulate a human while Boston Dynamic appears to be going for
more specific military needs with things like BigDog.

~~~
slug
From what I learned from a BD engineer, Japanese legged robotics use mostly
static equilibrium in contrast with the (more advanced?) dynamic balancing of
US and European robots. Asimo might look cute, but if you compare the gait of
any of the popular MIT, Boston Dynamics or CMU robots to the Japanese, you
soon notice that the latter don't look very natural or adequate to
unpredictable terrain.

[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Robotics#Loco...](https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Robotics#Locomotion)

~~~
anigbrowl
That's true enough, but only the military and EMS need robots that can
instantly handle unfamiliar terrain. Meanwhile, the Japanese are most of the
way towards a consumer product, since the interior of a building is highly
predictable.

~~~
FrojoS
Good point, but if you don't need to handle unstructured terrain, you might
just as well put the robot on wheels. The humanoids robot Justin from DLR [1]
for instance has an omnidirectional wheeled platform that even allows for
adaptive foot print. The only current advantage for ASIMO that I see at the
moment, is that it doesn't have to take the elevator but can use stairs.

[1] Here is a good video from 2009 that shows that Justin is capable of the
same tasks that Honda showed of today
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPwpGpMoAxs>

~~~
anigbrowl
Quite - and with 4 wheels, I imagine that stairs would be manageable for
Justin as well. You might like this too:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1qJyAWZeV4>

I think US industrial/product designers are seriously underestimating the
market for consumer-facing humanoid robots.

~~~
FrojoS
> with 4 wheels, I imagine that stairs would be manageable for Justin as well

In theory yes, but not with the current design.

> You might like this too: Yes, ABB's Frida looks impressive, but so far there
> seems to be very little information about the technical data.

> I think US industrial/product designers are seriously underestimating the
> market for consumer-facing humanoid robots.

There is rumor, that Rodney Brooks's Heartland Robotics
<http://www.heartlandrobotics.com/> will release something similar to Frida
soon.

------
ck2
The way it's knees are overly bent is kinda creepy to me, especially when it
runs.

But standing still it seems pleasant enough.

Also they need to code some imperfection into it - the absolutely perfect hand
movements, unscrewing the jar and pouring are too precise - make it warble a
tiny bit like a human would, make it shake the container at the end to get the
remainder out.

~~~
khill
It always looks to me like it's running to get to the nearest bathroom - or
that it didn't quite make it in time.

~~~
frankus
Reminds me of a quote from the always incisive Karl Pilkington (to keep this
family friendly, google "asimo karl pilkington").

~~~
polshaw
"It walks like it shit itself" -Karl Pilkington

HN isn't for kids, i don't think the family filter is required.

------
johnyzee
Wow, amazing. This has come a long way since the worst demo ever:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASoCJTYgYB0>

The way it manipulates stuff with the hands is very impressive, not to mention
the 'understanding' required to pour liquid like that. Wonder how much of that
was scripted.

~~~
wofser
I'm glad they put the wall in-front of him. Must have been a horrific sight
for the children.

I also wonder how much was scripted.

Take for example when he unscrewed the cork. Did he "feel" that the cork was
loose or did a programmer instruct him to unscrew the cork 278 degrees?

------
rglover
I hate the way this thing runs, it's so... _sneaky_.

------
hexagonc
Now, all they need is for ASIMO to say: "glass. . . ice. . . gin. . ."

------
JoeAltmaier
That mincing gate pretty much precludes selling it for serious applications.
Looks like a coolie carrying a rickshaw...

~~~
mootothemax
Excuse me, but "mincing gate?" Mispelling of "gait" aside, is that _really_ an
appropriate comment to make in this day and age? I'm getting a bit bored of
feeling like the HN inappropriateness police. If it's not sexism, it's
homophobia... are we going to have a fun time of racism next?

~~~
JabavuAdams
What are you talking about? I don't think "mincing" means what you think it
means.

<http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/mince>

~~~
mootothemax
_What are you talking about? I don't think "mincing" means what you think it
means._

I'm going by the mix of results on Google:

[https://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-
ab&hl=en&source=...](https://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-
ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=%22mincing+gait%22&pbx=1&oq=%22mincing+gait%22&aq=f&aqi=g-v1&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=4356l5120l1l5365l2l2l0l0l0l0l118l234l0.2l2l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=f2e3640de917052c&biw=1366&bih=667)

Maybe it's a cultural thing; certainly in the UK at least, "mincer" or
"mincing along" are definitely offensive.

~~~
JabavuAdams
Ok, interesting to know.

