First unveiled in 2000, Honda yesterday revealed the latest version of their ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) humanoid partner robot after being relatively silent since its last release in 2005, and the advancements of the robot show that Honda researchers have been hard at work during the silence.

The new ASIMO is autonomous.
ASIMO now has decision-making capability to determine its behavior, bringing ASIMO another step closer to practical use in an environment where it coexists with people.

The new ASIMO is faster and more agile.
ASIMO is able to walk frontwards and backwards, jump in place without falling down, jump on one foot, walk over bumps,  as well as jog faster, beating his previous top speed of just under 4mph with a new record of 5.7mph.

The new ASIMO is more dexterous.
When launched in 2000, ASIMO had 26 degrees of freedom. This latest ASIMO has 57 degrees of freedom. With improved hands, ASIMO is capable of moving each finger, enabling it to open a bottle and pour juice into a paper cup. ASIMO is now also able to make sign language expressions,  requiring complex movement of fingers.

The new ASIMO is smarter.
ASIMO can now temporarily stop a certain action and resume it after performing a different task in between (i.e., opening the bottle and pouring the juice into a glass).

In addition, according to Honda, ASIMO “is now capable of predicting the direction a person will walk within the next few seconds based on information from pre-set space sensors and quickly determining to take an alternate path to avoid a collision with the person if the estimated locations of the person and the ASIMO intersect.”

ASIMO is also now able to track a conversation between different people, recognizing the faces and voices of everyone involved (even when several people speak simultaneously), using face recognition and sound analysis.

Check out the video. Very cool!

For more information about ASIMO visit asimo.honda.com