Honda ASIMO: The Four Foot Robot That Ran, Fell, and Changed Robotics

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

In 2008 a guest conductor four feet three inches tall, dressed like a small astronaut, led the Detroit Symphony Orchestra through The Impossible Dream. It was ASIMO, Honda's humanoid robot, and it was never meant to be sold. The project began in 1986 at a research center in Wako, Japan, with a single goal: make a machine walk on two legs. The early E series models were little more than heavy mechanical legs trailing thick cables, and the hulking P series followed before ASIMO was unveiled in October 2000.

This episode treats the robot's career as a biography. It explains why Honda chose a height of 130 centimeters, why the processor sits in the waist, and how cameras, lasers, infrared, and ultrasonic sensors fed one system at once. It follows the world tour, from the New York Stock Exchange bell to a soccer kick with Barack Obama, and the viral stair falls that made people love him more. Honda ended development in 2018, but the engineering lives on in walking assist devices and disaster response machines.

ASIMO's height put his hands at the right level for standard doorknobs and light switches in human homes.
Placing the heavy processor in the waist lowered his center of gravity so turning and stopping would not topple him.
Between 2000 and 2011 his movable joints grew from 26 to 57 degrees of freedom, enough to unscrew a bottle cap and pour water into a paper cup.
By 2011 he ran at nine kilometers per hour, with both feet off the ground for 0.08 seconds on each stride.
He scored 32 points to win an episode of the British quiz show QI in 2011, after serving water to host Stephen Fry.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(16184)

The Art of Adult Friendship: Why Quality Matters More Than Quantity

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore how our understanding of friendship changes as we grow old...

9 Nov 18min

Summer Explained: The Science, History, and Traditions of the Warmest Season

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore summer, the season most closely associated with sunshine, ...

7 Nov 18min

Sir Patrick Stewart: From Shakespeare to Star Trek, the Life and Legacy of a Legend

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the extraordinary life of Sir Patrick Stewart, the acclaim...

7 Nov 49min

Larry David: The Genius of Social Awkwardness, Seinfeld, and Curb Your Enthusiasm

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the life and career of Larry David, the comedian, writer, ...

6 Nov 38min

Why Australian Shepherds Aren't From Australia

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the history of the Australian Shepherd, an intelligent, en...

5 Nov 45min

Labrador Retriever: From Newfoundland Fishing Dogs to Modern-Day Heroes

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the remarkable history of the Labrador Retriever, one of t...

4 Nov 53min

Discovering Ireland: A Journey Through History, Culture, and the Wild Atlantic Way

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore Ireland through the philosophy of slow travel: go slower, ...

3 Nov 48min

Willie Hutch: An Overnight I'll Be There Lyric and The Mack's Soundtrack

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!William McKinley Hutchins was born in Los Angeles in December 1944 and raised in Dallas, where h...

2 Nov 21min