The name ASIMO, is officially an acronym for “Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility”. ASIMO is a humanoid robot created by Honda Motor Company at the Honda's Research & Development Wako Fundamental Technical Research Centre in Japan. The four feet three inches robot weighs about 54 kilograms and resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack. It can walk or run on two feet at speeds up to six km/h. According to the ASIMO website, ASIMO is the first humanoid robot in the world that can walk independently and climb stairs. ASIMO has a height of four feet three inches, ideal to help someone confined to a wheelchair or bed.

The beginning

The development of this humanoid  helper robot began in 1986. Engineers knew the robot had to be able to easily navigate around a house or building, and for that they had to be perfect in walking technology. Therefore, their first attempts were basically boxes with legs. Once the walking mechanism was mostly developed, arms, hands and finally a head were added.

ASIMO 1986 - 1997

1986 — Static walking
The first robot built in this series was called EO. EO walked very slowly, it could even take 20 seconds to complete a single step. This was because EO did what was called “static walking”. In static walking, after the robot begins moving one foot forward, it has to wait until it has its weight balanced on that foot before it begins to move the other foot forward. Humans don't walk that way, so the research continued.

1987 — Dynamic walking
By now engineers had developed a method for “dynamic walking”, which is much more human-like. With this walking technology, the robot (now called prototype E1, soon followed by E2 and E3 as research progressed) leaned into the next step, shifting its weight and moving the other foot forward to catch itself so that rather than falling forward, it walked forward.

1991 — Walking like a pro
In prototypes E4, E5 and E6, the developers perfected the walking mechanism to the point where the robot could easily walk on an incline, up stairs and on uneven terrain. Because truly walking as a human actually requires the use of the body, arms and head, engineers had to move on to the next step and add the rest of the body.
1993 — A more human-looking robot

With a body, arms, hands and a head, the next generation of prototypes (P1, P2 and P3) looked more like a “humanoid”. P1, however, was a scary six feet two inches tall and weighed 175 kg.
P2 was scaled down slightly in height, but still weighed an even heavier 210 kg. However, it could walk very well on uneven surfaces, incline, and could even grasp objects and push carts. P2 could even maintain its balance when pushed.

Finally, P3 was built at a more comfortable five feet two inches. Weighing 130 kg, P3 could walk faster and more smoothly than its predecessors.
1997 — ASIMO

Even more improvements were made to the walking system, allowing ASIMO to walk gracefully and easily in almost any environment. Sophisticated hip joints allowed ASIMO to turn smoothly — something other robots have to stop

and shuffle in order to do.

In thinking about how ASIMO was to be used, the engineers made the decision to further reduce ASIMO's size to four feet so that not only it would be intimidating to people who were seated (or standing, for that matter), it would actually be at eye level. This height also made it possible for ASIMO to work at table height or at a computer, reach light switches and turn door knobs. ASIMO's very strong but lightweight magnesium-alloy body, covered in plastic “skin,” weighed only 52 kg.

Technology called “predicted movement control” allowed ASIMO to predict its next movement automatically and shift its weight to make a turn. ASIMO's stride could also be adjusted in real time to make it walk faster or slower. P2 and P3 had to use programmed walking patterns.

More features

• ASIMO can automatically charge its battery when its battery level falls below a certain level. A new battery charging station was developed for ASIMO's autonomous recharging. When the battery level falls below a certain level, ASIMO will automatically identify and walk to the closest available battery charging station and re-charge while standing.

• Using the visual information captured by the camera mounted in its head, ASIMO can detect the movements of multiple objects, assessing distance and direction. Common applications of this feature would include the ability to follow the movements of people with its camera, to follow a person, or greet a person when he or she approaches.

• ASIMO can also interpret the positioning and movement of a hand, recognising postures and gestures. Because of this ASIMO can react to and be directed by not only voice commands, but also to the natural movements of human beings. This enables it to, for example, recognise when a handshake is offered or when a person waves and respond accordingly. It can also recognise movement directions such as pointing.

· ASIMO can recognise the objects and terrain of its environment and act in a way that is safe for both itself and nearby humans. For example, recognising potential hazards such as stairs, and by stopping and starting to avoid hitting humans or other moving objects.

• ASIMO's ability to identify the source of sounds has been improved, and it can distinguish between voices and other sounds. It can respond to its name, face people when being spoken to, and recognise sudden, unusual sounds such as that of a falling object or a collision, and face in that direction. It is also able to respond to questions, either by a brief nod, a shake of the head or a verbal answer.

• ASIMO can also do jobs that are too dangerous for humans to do, like going into hazardous areas, bomb disposing, or fighting fires.

• ASIMO has already proven itself to be pretty multi-talented, but it looks like it's now added yet another trick to its repertoire, with a pair of researchers giving it the ability to understand three people speaking at once. That was done with the aid of eight microphones and a specially-designed software program dubbed HARK, which works out where each voice is coming from and isolates it from other sounds. Right now, however, that's only being used to referee games of rock-paper-scissors, with each individual shouting out their choice at once, but the researchers eventually hope to get ASIMO up to the level of humans' ability to listen at a cocktail party, although they admit that is still a “long way” off.

Future of ASIMO

Although ASIMO isn't quite ready for prime time (there are still improvements that need to be made to allow it to fully function), Honda has put ASIMO to work as a receptionist in its office in Wako in Saitama prefecture, just north of Tokyo. ASIMO spends its time greeting guests and leading them around the facilities.

To perform these duties, ASIMO has to be specially programmed to know the layout of the buildings and the appropriate way to greet visitors and answer questions. 

If the thought of an army of ASIMO robots makes you terrified, you can relax. The manufacturers say that ASIMO will never be used in military applications.