HistoryBrief
ASIMO, Honda's 120 cm humanoid built to reach door handles and light switches
Honda unveiled ASIMO on 20 November 2000 in Tokyo. The small humanoid robot was designed to walk like a human and to be useful in a home.
Honda chose ASIMO's height, 120 cm, with care. According to the manufacturer, it is the ideal height for pressing light switches, reaching door handles and working at a table or a workbench.
The robot was unveiled on 20 November 2000 at Honda's global headquarters in Tokyo. According to the company, this small, lightweight humanoid walks with an ease close to that of a human, never achieved before.
ASIMO succeeds the P3 prototype. It stands 120 cm tall instead of 160 cm and weighs 43 kg instead of 130 kg, Honda says.
Its name comes from the English “Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility”. Hiroyuki Yoshino, then president of Honda, explained that the manufacturer wanted to make it a partner for people, useful to society.
ASIMO is the result of work that began at Honda in 1986. Two prototypes came before it: the P2, which appeared in 1996, then the P3 in 1997.
Source
- Honda (official product pages) · global.honda
