Sunday, September 28, 2008

ASIMO the Robot


A robot is a mechanical or virtual agent In practice, it is usually an electro-mechanical system which, by its appearance or movements, conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own. The word robot can refer to both physical robots and virtual software agents, but the latter are usually referred to as bots. There is no consensus on which machines qualify as robots, but there is general agreement among experts and the public that robots tend to do some or all of the following: move around, operate a mechanical arm, sense and manipulate their environment, and exhibit intelligent behavior, especially behavior which mimics humans or animals.


ASIMO
(アシモ ashimo) is a humanoid robot created by Honda Robot Company. Standing at 130 cm (4ft 3inches) and weighing 54kgs (119 pounds). The robot resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack and can walk or run on two feet at speeds up to 6km/h(4.3 mph). 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 EO.

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.


As of 2007, there are 46 ASIMO units in existence.

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