Honda has halted development of Asimo, its iconic humanoid robot, Nikkei reported on Thursday. The automobile giant is said to be shifting focus to developing more practical robots that can be used in areas such as nursing and transportation.
Asimo, short for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility, was first shown to the public in 2000, around two decades after development began in the '80s. The robot became a technological sensation mainly for becoming the first robot to walk on two legs, but also for its innocuous charm and unintimidating humanoid appearance – quite the opposite of recent robotics such as Boston Dynamic's SpotMini, a quadruped that can open doors.
Asimo stood at 4 feet 3 inches, weighed 119 pounds, and was powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that lasted for about an hour.
Asimo has greatly improved over the years. It's been able to perform human-like functions including the ability to recognize moving objects, judge direction and distance of objects, and interpret voice and gesture commands. Although Honda is pulling the plug on the robot, it says it will harness the robot's technology for more practical uses in nursing and road transport in the future – in essence, ensuring that ASIMO's spirit will live on.
