There are so many awesome facts about ASIMO. Here are our top ten!
- Honda have put ASIMO to work as a receptionist in their office in Wako, Saitama Prefecture. With specialised programming, ASIMO can greet visitors, answer questions and guide them to various meeting rooms while serving coffee.
- For many years, ASIMO was totally unique in its ability to turn without stopping. This is because of a function called ‘predictive movement control’, which has ASIMO making a complex series of calculations ahead of time as to how much it should be shifting its weight while making a turn.
- ASIMO has ‘force sensors’ in its hands that let it determine how much gripping power its needs to perform certain tasks. Pushing a cart up an incline? It applies more force! Holding coffee or shaking hands? It knows when to ease up.
- ASIMO appeared as a special guest on an episode of QI, a British game show, where it swept the board and won with a total of 32 points.
- Another of ASIMO’s major public appearances was conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in a performance of “Impossible Dream” from the musical “Man of La Mancha”. Its performance consisted of walking onto the stage, giving the musicians a cheery wave and then conducting the piece with its arms.
- The creators of ASIMO have stated that, while it is very human, it is still a robot, and thus isn’t a ‘he’ or ‘she’. They say that it is fine to simply use the name ‘ASIMO’.
- ASIMO can be purchased, but you’re certainly paying for the most advanced humanoid robot on the planet, with a hefty price tag of around $2,500,000 USD. Looking to rent? Japanese companies can get an ASIMO for their office for around $150,000 a month!
- Everything about ASIMO was specially designed to make it the perfect helper, including its size. The average ASIMO is 130 centimetres tall, giving it the ability to get around the home, but also be the perfect size for interacting with humans in bed or wheelchair.
- Wondering what an ASIMO army would look like? Better keep wondering, because Honda have firmly stated that ASIMO will never be used in the military (plus there are only about 150 units in the whole world).
- In 2014, the latest version of ASIMO made its debut at the New York International Auto Show, with the ability to communicate with sign language! This makes ASIMO an even greater helper robot than ever before.