A spokesman for Honda said Asimo is now faster, more agile and generally more versatile. The robot's parents, including Honda Executive Chief Engineer Masato Hirose, hope the robot grows up to be useful member of cyber-society.
"It's a happy moment to be able to celebrate Asimo's ninth birthday. However, we'd like to see it grow up into a robot that will be able to be used in partnership with humans and evolve to be useful among humans," Hirose told reporters.
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ASIMO-The Honda's Robot
Officially, the name is an acronym for "Advanced Step in Innovative MObility". Honda's official statements claim that the robot's name is not a reference to science fiction writer and inventor of the Three Laws of Robotics, Isaac Asimov.
Asimo can be operated from a workstation and also by a remote controller. Honda has also created a 3D CPU (consisting of three stacked dice: a processor, a signal converter and some memory) to power super Asimo. ASIMO runs the VxWorks operating system.
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Recognition technology
With 2000's ASIMO model Honda added many features that enable ASIMO to interact better with humans. These features fall under 5 categories:1. Recognition of moving objects
- Using the visual information captured by the camera mounted in its head, ASIMO can detect the movements of multiple objects, assessing distance and direction. Common applications of this feature would include: the ability to follow the movements of people with its camera, to follow a person, or greet a person when he or she approaches.
- ASIMO can also interpret the positioning and movement of a hand, recognizing postures and gestures. Because of this ASIMO can react to and be directed by not only voice commands, but also to the natural movements of human beings. This enables it to, for example, recognize when a handshake is offered or when a person waves and respond accordingly. It can also recognize movement directions such as pointing.
- ASIMO can recognize the objects and terrain of its environment and act in a way that is safe for both itself and nearby humans. For example, recognizing potential hazards such as stairs, and by stopping and starting to avoid hitting humans or other moving objects.
- ASIMO's ability to identify the source of sounds has been improved, and it can distinguish between voices and other sounds. It can respond to its name, face people when being spoken to, and recognize sudden, unusual sounds such as that of a falling object or a collision, and face in that direction. It is also able to respond to questions, either by a brief nod, a shake of the head or a verbal answer.
- ASIMO has the ability to recognize faces, even when ASIMO or the human being is moving. It can individually recognize approximately 10 different faces. Once they are registered it can address them by name.
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Network integration
Utilizing networks such as the Internet, ASIMO can provide information and function better for various commercial applications, such as reception. Its abilities fall under 2 categories:1. Integration with user's network system
- By connecting with a user's network ASIMO can offer many useful functions such as greeting visitors and informing personnel of the visitor's arrival by transmitting messages and pictures of the visitor's face and guide visitors to a predetermined location.
- By accessing information via the Internet, ASIMO can, for example, become a provider of news and weather updates.
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