Honda’s humanoid robot Asimo can now run faster, hop around, autonomously avoid people, and communicate in sign language with its new hands.
In the first major update to the droid in four years, Asimo has improved AI skills, being able to operate continuously without human control, and also has better locomotion, and a remarkable 57 axes of movement.
In a belated response to the lack of robots at Japan’s many nuclear power plants, Honda also introduced a self-propelled articulated robot arm based on Asimo technology that can be used in disaster sites.Weighing 29.5 kg (65 pounds) and sporting 10 axes of movement, the arm can be “remotely controlled to approach the object and stably perform necessary tasks even in a narrow space with unstable footing and many obstacles,” Honda said.Significantly, it can open and close valves on pipes, which might help prevent more nuclear meltdowns of the kind seen at Fukushima.
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