Few geeks haven’t dreamt of one day taking on cyborg enhancements—me included. And today I did, thanks to two of Honda’s wearable Asimo-inspired Walk Assist devices. This is how it felt.
You know what I think the worst thing about having a robot army is? You have to press buttons. It’s much more satisfying to get every automaton to do your bidding by just thinking it.
It’s easy to lump Asimo into a stagnant pile of clips demonstrating a short robot waving, dancing and rolling down stairs since 2004. But as these 1/8 scale dolls action figures show, he’s improved.
Asimo is the de facto face of modern robotics, but how much do you really know about him? The new Inside Asimo page explains it all, with interactive animations, diagrams and requisite robo-charm.
If you thought Asimo falling down the stairs was funny, wait until this epic 49-foot-tall version of Honda’s robot falls down during the Rose Parade, crushing dozens of bedazzled dancers.
A while back we told you about a documentary named Japan: Robot Nation that would be on Current TV. Here’s another clip from the show. And by the way, it premiers tomorrow night.
Why Honda took a few days to seed a video of their potentially emasculating robotic legs is beyond me, but here it is: a faceless man running the “Walking Assist Device” through its strides (ha, ha). My fears of testicular danger are only partially mitigated, and the fact that the legs have a hilariously feminine gait doesn’t offer much comfort. That said, they do seem to work: the demonstrator never falls down, and appears to exert very little energy, even during deep squats. [Akihabara]
Honda’s first foray into robotising old peoples’ haunches looked pretty tame, but this new one, on which geriatrics are supposed to mount like some sort of meat trophy, feels like a glimpse into a horrible, dystopian future where up is down, right is wrong and grandmas and grandpas amble through Sears on mechanised rectal steeds instead of walkers. The machine, which I’m 90% sure is just the missing half of this Battle Droid from Attack of the Clones, is more a passive support device than it is a set of active robot limbs, though it does have a small electric motor.
Honda research engineers have given Asimo the ability to understand three voices at once, thanks to an array of eight microphones that can recognise each voice individually. The recognition software, HARK, can process the commands with 70-80 percent accuracy and the microphones are placed all over Asimo’s head and body for spatial recognition purposes. The current application for this technology is using Asimo as a judge for verbal Paper-Rock-Scissors, where everyone calls out their answer at once, and Asimo decides who said what, and who wins. Though a great technical feat, this feels less glamorous than the robot’s stint as orchestra conductor, no? [New Scientist]
Honda’s ASIMO may have picked up the baton to conduct an entire orchestra, but Toyota has just outperformed the little guy with its suite of robo-musicians. Dubbed Chuck, Harry, Dave and Ritchie (honestly!) the part-wheeled, part-bipedal quartet recently performed a concert where they actually played a trumpet, tuba, drums, violin and trombone. Their song repertoire included a Glenn Miller piece and a popular Japanese tune— and that makes waving a baton around seem pretty low-tech. Wait ’til you see the video of Ritchie hammering away on his custom drum kit— he’ll have you giggling with robot-appreciation glee.
