Also moving on two legs, the robot Asimo from Honda is now able to take into account the people who surround it. It recognizes their faces and signs that it font.Honda Motor Co., a division of automobile giant Nippon, unveiled Wednesday, December 11 in Tokyo, a new version of Asimo, the humanoid robot the size of a child ( 1 m 20 to 43 kg).
As the first model launched in November 2000, this robot is able to move on a flat terrain, up and down stairs, while avoiding obstacles stationary or moving. The great novelty is qu’Asimo interacts now, not only with its physical environment, but also with people moving around him. It assesses their speed and distance at which they are located. It can thus avoid them or follow them, Honda said in a statement. The robot uses both a digital camera lodged in his head. It also has a facial recognition system which enables it to identify the caller. It stores up to 10 faces, said Honda. Asimo also identifies the actions that makes him human and postures to adopt: hello of the hand, pointing an object …
Honda Motor plans to rent the new Asimo from next January to $ 162000 per annum. The automaker already rented the previous seven companies, including IBM, which use it as a receptionist.