While some robots are off exploring the solar system, other artificial automatons
are coming into their own back on Earth.
The Japan-based Honda Motor Co.'s Asimo robot, for example, can walk, talk and recognize faces.
Unlike some of its other Earth counterparts, such as the hefty industrial robots
used by auto manufacturers to assemble cars, Asimo is a mobile, child-like robot
built as an example of Honda's innovation. In addition to appearing in Honda
commercials, the robot has been rented out to Japanese companies, and it rang
the bell once at the New York Stock Exchange.
The 4-foot (1.4-meter) Asimo's can be programmed to recognize up to 10 faces
with the camera built into its head, and even call out the names of the people
those faces belong to. It can understand human gestures and waves back if waved
to.
The robot can also walk backward as well as forward to avoid obstacles, and
it is equipped with a wireless local area network (LAN) to tap into Honda showroom
databases and discuss car information.
