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Introduction
1. ASIMO (アシモ ashimo) is a humanoid robot created by Honda. Standing at 130 centimeters (4 feet 3 inches) and weighing 54 kilograms (114 pounds), the robot resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack and can walk or run on two feet at speeds up to 6 km/h (4.3 mph), matching EMIEW. ASIMO was created at Honda's Research & Development Wako Fundamental Technical Research Center in Japan. It is the current model in a line of eleven that began in 1986 with E0.
2. 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.
3. As of February 2009, there are over 100 ASIMO units in existence. Each one costs under $1 million (¥106,710,325 or €638,186 or £504,720) to manufacture, and some units are available to be hired out for $166,000 (¥17,714,316 or €105,920 or £83,789) per year.
How ASIMO Works
The Honda Motor Company developed ASIMO, which stands forAdvanced Step in Innovative Mobility, and is the most advanced humanoid robot in the world. According to the ASIMO Web site, ASIMO is the first humanoid robot in the world that can walk independently and climb stairs.
In addition to ASIMO's ability to walk like we do, it can alsounderstand preprogrammed gestures and spoken commands,recognize voices and faces and interface with IC Communication cards. ASIMO has arms and hands so it can do things like turn on light switches, open doors, carry objects, and push carts.
Rather than building a robot that would be another toy, Honda wanted to create a robot that would be ahelper for people -- a robot to help around the house, help the elderly, or help someone confined to a wheelchair or bed. ASIMO is 4 feet 3 inches (1.3 meters) high, which is just the right height to look eye to eye with someone seated in a chair. This allows ASIMO to do the jobs it was created to do without being too big and menacing. Often referred to as looking like a "kid wearing a spacesuit," ASIMO's friendly appearance and nonthreatening size work well for the purposes Honda had in mind when creating it.
ASIMO could also do jobs that are too dangerous for humans to do, like going into hazardous areas, disarming bombs, or fighting fires.
ASIMO's Motion: Walk Like a Human
ASIMO has hip, knee, and foot joints. Robots have joints that researchers refer to as "degrees of freedom." A single degree of freedom allows movement either right and left or up and down. ASIMO has34 degrees of freedom spread over different points of its body in order to allow it to move freely. There are three degrees of freedom in ASIMO's neck, seven on each arm and six on each leg. The number of degrees of freedom necessary for ASIMO's legs was decided by measuring human joint movement while walking on flat ground, climbing stairs and running.
ASIMO also has a speed sensor and a gyroscope sensor mounted on its body. They perform the tasks of:
• sensing the position of ASIMO's body and the speed at which it is moving
• relaying adjustments for balance to the central computer
These sensors work similarly to our inner ears in the way they maintain balance and orientation.
ASIMO also has floor surface sensors in its feet and six ultrasonic sensors in its midsection. These sensors enhance ASIMO's ability to interact with its environment by detecting objects around ASIMO and comparing gathered information with maps of the area stored in ASIMO's memory.
To accomplish the job our muscles and skin do in sensing muscle power, pressure and joint angles, ASIMO has both joint-angle sensors and a six-axis force sensor Unless you know a lot about robotics, you may not fully grasp the incredible milestone it is that ASIMO walks as we do. The most significant part of ASIMO's walk is the turning capabilities. Rather than having to stop and shuffle, stop and shuffle, and stop and shuffle into a new direction, ASIMO leans and smoothly turns just like a human. ASIMO can also self-adjust its steps in case it stumbles, is pushed, or otherwise encounters something that alters normal walking.
In order to accomplish this, ASIMO's engineers had to find a way to work with the inertial forces created when walking. For example, the earth's gravity creates a force, as does the speed at which you walk. Those two forces are called the "total inertial force." There is also the force created when your foot connects with the ground, called the "ground reaction force." These forces have to balance out, and posture has to work to make it happen. This is called the "zero moment point" (ZMP).
To control ASIMO's posture, engineers worked on three areas of control:
• Floor reaction control means that the soles of the feet absorb floor unevenness while still maintaining a firm stance.
• Target ZMP control means that when ASIMO can't stand firmly and its body begins to fall forward, it maintains position by moving its upper body in the direction opposite the impending fall. At the same time, it speeds up its walking to quickly counterbalance the fall.
• Foot-planting location control kicks in when the target ZMP control has been activated. It adjusts the length of the step to regain the right relationship between the position and speed of the body and the length of the step.
ASIMO's Motion: Smooth Moves
ASIMO can sense falling movements and react to them quickly; but ASIMO's engineers wanted more. They wanted the robot to have a smooth gait as well as do something that other robots can't do -- turn without stopping.