Autoblog

Click above to view video after the jump

While our blogging brethren over at Engadget are just relieved that Honda's ASIMO robot didn't attempt a global coup while conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra last night, we're more impressed it didn't fall over and crack its head open. (Seriously Honda, you don't think you're ever going to live that down, do you?) As we reported late last month, Honda's creepy little humanoid robot opened for Yo-Yo Ma in Detroit by conducting the DSO in a rousing rendition of "Impossible Dream". We're not sure what great advances in technology are demonstrated by having a robot conduct an orchestra, however, because we're pretty sure that an actual human conductor is just a glorified metronome. Check out some video of ASIMozart conducting after the break.

UPDATE: Replaced video snippet after jump with professionally edited video from Honda.


[Source: Engadget]

click above image to view more high-res res pics of the Honda float

And you thought you were going to have to wait until next summer for the Transformers sequel. Well, thanks to Honda, you only have to wait until the Rose Bowl Parade to see shape-shifting-mechanical-flying things. Honda, long a sponsor of the parade, will be entering a float called "Passport to the Future." The trick: it turns from float into flying machine.

A huge, flower-covered Honda Ridgeline-type truck will sit atop a bed of multi-colored flowers. At the appointed time, the engine bay will turn into a cockpit, the sides will become wings, jet engines will emerge from the bed, and it will tuck its wheels and take flight in a cloud of steam. At the wheel will be a replica of Honda's personal robot, ASIMO.

Steve Morikawa, assistant VP of American Honda, said the company "is committed to creating products that give people mobility -- on both two and four wheels, and soon, in the skies. This year's float takes a fun and imaginative look at what the future of mobility might hold." If that means robots flying floral Ridgelines, it's going to be an exciting future indeed.

Thanks for the tip, Jonathan!

[Source: Street Import Online]

ASIMO, Honda's increasingly uncanny humanoid robot, has finally impressed enough Hollywood producers to get his own show. The running, walking, talking, stair-climbing Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility (aka ASIMO) takes the stage at Honda's ASIMO Theater in the Tomorrowland section of Disneyland. You'll be treated to a 15-minute show in which ASIMO interacts with a live host and shows off how he will act when he finally makes it into private homes. Apparently, one of ASIMO's principal roles in our robotic future will be to "act as a servile companion to those most in need of physical assistance." That sounds like the beginning of I, Robot to us, but what do we know? And if your name is Sarah Connor, you might want to skip that attraction for now.

[Source: Gizmag]

Honda has released an electronic version of its popular customer rag, dream. The pretty pictures and interesting articles are still there, but the fun begins when one delves into the interactive sidebars, chock-full of formula one cars, British scientific expeditions to Antarctica, and even a special appearance by an ASIMO. Thanks to the online functionality of the magazine, interactive features, including movies, sound bytes and virtual tours, abound.

The pilot of the magazine went out in January 2007, and Honda reports that readership was high, and a whopping 25 percent of readers provided feedback.

Features of this edition include:

• Living at -80°C with the British Antarctic Survey and Honda's All Terrain Vehicles
• Jenson Button's test drive of the new Civic Type-R
• Review of the FR-V in Copenhagen
• Built to Move – getting from A to B with innovation in the 21st century.
  

360 degree photorealistic views of the Honda Family as it is available in the UK brightens up the standard vehicle lineup page, as well. Check out the full press release after the jump.

[Source: Honda]

Whenever the day's got you down, there's nothing like watching Honda's Asimo robot take a face plant to turn your frown upside down. At this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, however, the Japanese automaker and future master of Japan's robot army, Honda, had a chance to redeem its robot on stage. This time, Asimo not only climbed up and down stairs, it also danced liked Justin Timberlake circa 2001, bent it like Beckham, and ran across the stage and around in a circle, each step lifting its entire body off the ground for .08 seconds. We salute you Asimo, our robot master! (Just practicing.)

Check out the video of Asimo's performance after the jump.

[Source: Gizmodo via Techeblog]

As product demonstrations go, this is what you would call a worst case scenario. Right at the one minute mark, the Honda Asimo robot has an issue making it up the steps and takes a faceplant on the floor below, shattering his glass "face" and saying what sounds like "sleeping". We're not sure if it was nap time or too much saki, but the quick dimming of the lights and unfurling of the wheeled wall demonstrates some pretty quick thinking, and obvious preparation for such a mishap. We hope you get a laugh out of it as much as us and the folks in attendance.

[Source: TechEBlog]

Related posts:

• Honda's Asimo grows up, joins the workforce

Honda Research Institute (HRI) has teamed up with Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATRI) to developing working technology allowing humans to control robotic devices simply by thinking about the task - a breakthrough that could change the way we control our motor vehicles.

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan a subject's brain as they make a simple physical motion, the system can replicate the motion using a robot in near real time (said to be about seven seconds for a rock-paper-scissors type of gesture). The system requires no surgical implant of electrodes, and no specific operator training is necessary. While the performance is considerably slower than would be required for something like a collision avoidance system, it's likely that a bit of time and the application of the "modern-day bigger-hammer approach" (read: more computational power) will help close the gap.

Potentially, the fatal flaw of the system is its reliance on actual thought processes - something said to be completely missing in many of the world's worst drivers.

[Source: Medical News Today]