A New And Improved Asimo

Honda's famous robot "Asimo" is growing up and learning as he goes... check out this impressive video of the little guy acquiring knowledge via sight and verbal queues. He's come a long way from simply walking about and climbing on stairs.

Honda's Wearable Assistive Walker

Honda has unveiled a robotic walking aid that they claim reduces stress on the legs and knees of the wearer and enables them to preform tasks by expending less effort. "This should be as easy to use as a bicycle," said engineer Jun Ashihara at Honda's Tokyo headquarters. "It reduces stress, and you should feel less tired." The device is computer controlled and looks like a bicycle seat with legs. Honda envisions it's auto factory workers donning the devices to enable them to perform their tasks more easily, this is especially important to the company considering Japan's aging population.
CNN has more detail here.

Honda To Showcase Assisted Walking Device

Honda is showcasing assisted walking technology, think exoskeleton, at the International Trade Fair on Barrier Free Equipments & Rehabilitation for the Elderly & the Disabled (BARRIER FREE 2008) in Osaka, Japan on April 25th -27th. The device which is currently under feasibility studies has been under development since 1999 and owes some of its technology to Honda's ASIMO humanoid robotics project. Honda's website says "Applying cooperative control based on the information obtained from hip angle sensors, the motors provide optimal assistance based on a command from the control CPU. With this assist, the user’s stride will be lengthened compared to the user’s normal stride without the device and therefore the ease of walking is achieved." The idea is to assist those with compromised walking capabilities due to injury or age. Check out the link above for images; very slick and looking like it's ready to hit the market.

Thanks to Engadget for pointing this out.

Asimo times two - smarter and working in pairs

Honda has made some strides in the technology in it's robot Asimo. The latest version works well with others, in fact they are designed to work with other robots allowing them to perform tasks in coordination with one another. According to this CNN article, "The 51-inch tall Asimo is "smarter" now, thanks to upgrades that allow it to do more tasks without human help, the company said. The robot can, for example, recognize drink choices and carry a tray with the requested drink to the person who placed the order."

I listened to Buzz Out Loud 621 today and Tom and Molly covered this story, it was interesting to hear the banter that in sued regarding the "creepiness" of robots doing these everyday tasks. I for one would love to have a house full of them, they can vacuum my carpets, mow my lawn, and serve me tea; I won't complain!

Your weather update from Honda!

Honda Motor Co. has demonstrated an upgrade to it's on board navigation system that will be available later this year on Honda Fit models in Japan. The service will alert drivers of hazardous weather such as heavy rainfall and seismic events. The system is, at least partially, two-way in that it collects information from cars that are fitted with the device and is able to relate the data collected to road conditions. Honda says they will be able to alert cars, in the future, to road congestion and detours. There are no plans yet to deploy the technology outside of Japan. The CBC's website has the full story here.

Brain-machine interface

If you are a child of the 80's like I am this story may remind you of the Clint Eastwood spy flick - Firefox! Not that it was a great movie, but the idea was that Clint was a U.S. military man who infiltrates a secret Russian air base to steel a mind controlled fighter jet. According to this MSNBC article, Hitachi Inc. has developed a device that analyzes slight changes in the brain's blood flow and translates brain motion into electric signals. The researchers have connected the device to a toy train rather than a fighter jet but they are exploring other commercial applications. In fact Honda is said to be working on similar technology with next generation automobiles in mind. Oh how the future looks bright for us geeks! By the way, Firefox was not one of Clint's better films.