Honda to halt the development of its revolutionary Asimo robot

Honda will reportedly stop the development of its humanoid robot Asimo, which the company had introduced to the world in 2000.  Named after the famous science fiction writer Isaac Asimov and credited to be the first walking bipedal robot, it took Honda almost 10 years to develop but was not applied to any significant commercial purpose.

After its launch, Asimo was hailed as an innovative and advanced robot incorporating ambitious technology, and the notion that a robot could be capable of navigating and interacting like humans caught everyone’s attention. As per records, Asimo had the ability to climb ramps or stairs, distinguish the faces of people, avoid obstacles and its features were usually demonstrated by performing all the tasks it could do. Although the iconic robot inspired the idea of a robot future among people, today advanced robotics are still limited to manufacturing industries.

Asimo was introduced a long time ago and its functioning in most ordinary human tasks were limited, which apparently even the latest human-like robots are finding difficult to perform. However, all the research put into Asimo and the technological development achieved it has achieved will benefit other areas, such as physical therapy and self-driving vehicles.

For instance, Honda is working on employing Asimo’s walking technology in a rehabilitation device for elderly and disabled patients, that helps them push off the ground efficiently. Another example could be the application of its sensing technology and software in autonomous cars.

A source at Honda commented that the existing Asimo robots will not retire and keep performing across the U.S., instigating the interest of youngsters to select a career path in STEM. Honda will continue its efforts in humanoid development and the R&D team for robot development is still in place, the source further mentioned.

As evident from above statements, robotics still remains a focal point for Honda although Asimo itself will not be enhanced further, rendering it to function as nothing more than an entertainer.