To kick off the science festival in Edinburgh, I went to see Honda’s amazing humanoid robot, ASIMO. A short video showing just some of its capabilities can be found on the home page of my web site – http://www.trevorelliott.co.uk 22 Years of Research
The product of 22 years of research, ASIMO is a phenomenal piece of engineering via which Honda’s research teams have solved the problems of creating true biped motion. Whilst we may view walking as a simple task, for a machine, it is a very complex combination of mechanical and computer technology involving simultaneous feedback from numerous sensors. Human walking involves a stage where the body is actually falling but the ability to adjust automatically our centre of gravity using hips, knee, ankles etc., means that we can unconsciously compensate and maintain an upright gait. As anyone who has taken a little too much alcohol will know, any disruption to this unconscious processing can quickly reveal the complexity of biped motion. Standing 1.3 metres tall, ASIMO can not only, walk but also, run, adapt to uneven surfaces, climb and descend stairs, use tools like a spanner to tighten and loosen nuts, shake hands (without crushing you hand) respond to spoken instructions and much, much more.
Through a child’s eyes
Most of the audience watching ASIMO probably took it for granted assuming that robots, like those found in science fiction, were quite common, whereas through the eyes of this rather grown up child Honda’s achievement is quite staggering. Apart from the engineering achievement let’s hope that ASIMO can help to stimulate young people’s interest in engineering and science. After the debacle of the financial crisis, I for one, would like to see a return to a more sensible approach measuring a country’s economic performance using its innovation, design and manufacturing activities.
For more information on ASIMO click here http://asimo.honda.com
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