Japanese Humanoid Robot May Assist First Responders
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עברית (Hebrew)
By Arie Egozi, Japan
The new version of Japan’s ASIMO — which stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility — features enhanced hand dexterity, including the ability to sign in both Japanese and American sign language, as well as the ability to run faster, climb stairs more smoothly, hop, jump, balance on one foot, and transition seamlessly between walking and running, among other new and unique capabilities.
ASIMO was basically designed to help those in society who need assistance, but now as the program moves on the robot’s creators at Honda think about more uses and one of them is assisting first responders.
iHLS – Israel Homeland Security
The Japanese company introduced the first version of ASIMO, the bi-pedal humanoid robot, in 2000, after 14 years of research on humanoid robotics. The small, lightweight robot is designed to operate fluidly in a human environment, and is capable of walking, running, climbing stairs, avoiding objects and recognizing human faces, among other skills.
The new version of ASIMO is 4’3’’ tall (130 cm), weighs 110 lbs (50 kg), and is made of magnesium alloy, plastic resin and other materials. ASIMO runs on a rechargeable lithium ion battery, with an approximate operating time of 40 minutes before recharging.
