Talk:ASIMO

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ASIMO is within the scope of WikiProject Robotics, an attempt to standardise coverage of Robotics. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this notice, or visit the project page, where you can join the project or contribute to the discussion.
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Contents

[edit] Gender

You refer to ASIMO using male pronouns, I would like to point out that it has no penis.

it has a boy's voice. and how do you know it doesn't have a penis? have pulled down its pants and seen for yourself?
I snuck a look the other day. That robot is hung, no wonder its slow and hunched over. Once you go bot you never go back
Heh. Anyway, the accept standard for English is that when gender is unspecified, masculine pronouns are used by default. Of course, a better question might be whether we should personify the robot by giving it a gender-specific pronoun at all, or whether we should refer to ASIMO as it. Jeff Silvers 16:47, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Have you notest that it has no breasts and its hips are to small.

hmmm. it think ASIMOP is a guy because guy, in history, have done everything first. it makes sense that the first true robots would be guys. duh...

People tend to give objects genders, that's why all ships are female. Fentoro 05:09, 7 March 2007 (UTC) how about the fact the supposedly pre recorded voice is acctually female.....--Wwjd333 15:47, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Humanization

I don't think that pronouns like "he" and "his" should be used in this article. ASIMO is not a person, it is a machine. When it has been upgraded to the level of a sentient be, then I'd reconsider.Gritironskillet 07:01, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

ASIMO is more sentient than most animals. it think refering to it as he/him works just well
ASIMO is not sentient at all, we have a long way to go to sentient robots. 206.252.74.48 (talk) 19:39, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Asimo's weight

I'm not sure where youre getting 43 kg from. I was just using this page: http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/technology/spec.html for his weight. Maybe thats a different model I'm not sure. But if it isnt, then I'd assume his weight is 52kg. Correct me if I'm wrong --Clngre 21:52, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Asimo.honda.com press releases says 115lb (which is around 52.1kg). I'll amend the article. Jasoncart 20:28, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)
A lot of sources differ on the original model of asimo's weight. [1] [2] say 43 kilos; whereas [3] [4] [5] say 52 kilos. This source, however states that the weight was reduced by 20% from 52 kg to 43 kg. So are we to believe that there was a small upgrade of the original model, changing only its weight? I'm not sure as some say that the next-gen model was upgraded directly from 52 kg to 54 kg. For now I'll leave it at 52 kilos; unless someone can provide a definative answer? - Jak (talk) 17:52, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
The third model has 54 kg [6] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.192.60.7 (talk) 00:41, 18 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] ASIMO and Asimov

Is there really no connection between ASIMO's name and the late good doctor? Or are Honda just being somewhat coy about admitting direct "inspiration" as such? (IBM and HAL spring to mind.) Alai 23:22, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

yes, especially since Asimov's book I Robot springs to mind as well. That can't be coincidence, can it?
Nope, there is no Link. When Asimo was in Luxembourg, I talked to a guy from HONDA Europe and he told me that there was no link. But he also told me that Asi meant leg in Japanese. (ramanci@yahoo.de)
"Honda's official statements indicate that the robot's name is not an homage to science fiction writer Isaac Asimov". I find the official claim hard to believe, since the Japanese meaning alone is not too deep. Shawnc 03:15, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
But if it is why would they deny it? That makes no sense. --Steerpike 17:43, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
Perhaps they'd feel ashamed for not properly implementing the 3 Laws of Robotics... ;) 201.47.188.2 16:54, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

I would like to see proof one way or the other from a Honda document that there is or is not an Asimov connection. So far, I have seen nothing from Honda on the subject, only speculation elsewhere Jimaginator 15:15, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

asimo and asimov... good connection. i think they are related. there are thousands of acronyms they could use but they chose asimo(v). then again...

Honda may be paying homage to Asimov, but apparently not officially per Japan Inc. magazine:
Japan Inc visited the Honda head office and found a slightly forlorn Asimo standing on a podium in the spacious showroom. Yuji Hatano of the company's corporate communications department made our introductions.
Asimo stands for "Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility." It's also a pun on the Japanese for foot (ashi) and the English word "move." The robot's name, according to Hatano, has absolutely nothing to do with Isaac Asimov, the Russian-born science fiction writer.
These bots were made for walking: Honda's bold new bots are headed into your home by Tony McNicol. Japan Inc. 52 (Feb 2004): p10(2).
Caltrop 22:22, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Why the robot name is written in katakana (used for foreign words in Japan) instead of hiragana then ? --Manop - TH 16:28, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

ASIMO is a name, not a common object. Proper names in Japanese are written in katakana. 66.82.9.82 19:14, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

I truly find it unbearably hard to believe that the main robotic sci-fi writer of world-wide fame would be solely ignored by japanese Honda enginneers and that the name is a mere coincidence... nerds are nerds everywhere... 201.47.188.2 16:54, 2 July 2007 (UTC)


I think the Asimo name was thought through very thoroughly, and it a slight Asimov homage (though it was probably not the original intention). Asimo (or "Ashimo") can be divided into "Ashi" and "mo". "Mo" is a common particle, meaning "also". With this in mind, I searched through an online Japanese dictionary for "Ashi". It can mean "leg" (as I expected), but it can also be a word I did NOT expect!! It also means evil!!! http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1E **STILL** think the Asimov connection is complete fantasy?? --Deborah "Tenbiran" VTPPGLVR@aol.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.146.190.50 (talk) 02:54, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Cost?

I guess everyone who comes to this article has at least one question: How much does it cost? Any estimates?

Update: Interesting Article at forbes.com about 'leasing' Asimo for $150,000.00 a month.

So why lease? Here is a clip from the article:

"Two museums in Japan have also leased Asimo units. The intension is to carefully introduce humanity to robots in ways that seem fun and positive. But leasing one is not cheap: about $150,000 a month."

Read more of the article here: http://www.forbes.com/home/2002/02/21/0221tentech.html

Hope this helps people get the idea!

[edit] Development cost

How much did it cost Honda? Per ASIMO and how much for the whole robot program? How did the robotisists convince the head honchos at Honda? How long will it be before it generates a profit? I assume the leasing is a tiny dent in expenditure - jak (talk) 23:15, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Since this program is runing for 20 years now it probably isnt cheap. Per ASIMO it's unknown, but since they are probably made in batches of 20 per serie (that would make 60 in existance?), hand built, they cost up to a million dollars to make. It will not generate profit for a long time, but it's good PR and good investment in the future markets (to be prepared for when they will be needed as assistants to care for old people in Japan).

[edit] Development history

For the Development history section, only the Honda E0 and Honda E1 links lead to articles on Honda robotic prototypes, and the test just lead to disambiguation pages. I'm going to remove the links to non-existing articles so as not to confuse readers who would assume that the links lead to full articles. BlankVerse ∅ 15:24, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

Re-added links, but with a "honda" prefix, assuming they will become avaidable in the future. I've created Honda P series, as i thought that seemed neccessary - Jak (talk) 23:13, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Speed

The wiki article says Asimo can walk at 3.7 mph, but a Forbes article states it's top speed is 1 mph. Could the 3.7 be a version upgrade?

Yes, the article is about the latest version of ASIMO. Often, the best place to look for information is in primary sources, which in this case is the official website at Honda. Could you provide the source information for the article you mean so that others can check it? - Jack (talk) 00:08, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

The information I got was from the "Say Hello to ASIMO" article in the "References" section.

i think the honda corp are taking ideas from microsoft. make a slow version and create an upgrade to make it faster. lol

[edit] YouTube links

This article is one of thousands on Wikipedia that have a link to YouTube in it. Based on the External links policy, most of these should probably be removed. I'm putting this message here, on this talk page, to request the regular editors take a look at the link and make sure it doesn't violate policy. In short: 1. 99% of the time YouTube should not be used as a source. 2. We must not link to material that violates someones copyright. If you are not sure if the link on this article should be removed, feel free to ask me on my talk page and I'll review it personally. Thanks. ---J.S (t|c) 07:10, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

If you dont take the time too review a link yourself how can you tell if its relivent or not.

  • In short: 1. 99% of the time YouTube should not be used as a source
  • In short: 1. 99% of the time Wikipedia should not be used for research

[edit] Asimo 2006 Website

When will the Asimo 2006 Website be added to this article.

Could you please elaborate? At the bottom of the article, under a header entitled "external links", there are links to the official Honda worldwide, Japan, US, Canadian and UK websites. Are you referring to the recent Warm Technology website, or the 2006 version of ASIMO? Because the article links to both of them as well. If I've missed out what you mean, try adding it yourself - Jack (talk) 03:44, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Can you buy one?

If you had enough money, how much would it cost to buy an ASIMO from Honda? I know you can rent them and I know that it costs a million bucks just to make, but how much to own one? I mean, surely a celebrity would have wanted to buy one to keep JayKeaton 16:51, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Honda does not sell them. Maybe in 10 years they will, but right they probably don't want others to examine Asimo (competitive edge) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.192.60.7 (talk) 00:48, 18 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Lack of info etc.

The article lacks information about the project in general. What is the development history? Why did they start the project? What is it supposed to lead to? Or is it just a race for patents? Come on... this is the worlds leading robotics-project! I would edit it if only I knew dick on the subject...

And btw: doesn´t the ending of the article look weird? No external links or "see also"´s.--Threedots dead 16:29, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] IMO 2003

Asimo: 44º International Mathematical Olympiad, July 2003, Tokyo Japan http://www.mmjp.or.jp/jmo/imo2003/contents/phot.html

[edit] GA Review

GA review (see here for criteria)
  1. It is reasonably well written.
    a (prose): b (MoS):
  2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.
    a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):
  3. It is broad in its coverage.
    a (major aspects): b (focused):
  4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.
    a (fair representation): b (all significant views):
  5. It is stable.
  6. It contains images, where possible, to illustrate the topic.
    a (tagged and captioned): b (lack of images does not in itself exclude GA): c (non-free images have fair use rationales):
  7. Overall:
    a Pass/Fail:


[edit] Comments

  • I believe this is a fair review.. Uchiha23 21:05, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
  • It's barely more than a stub.Not even close to GA --Technosphere83 (talk) 20:54, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Lack of technial background information, i.e. Autarkic Degree

This is quite a boring article for the technically interested reader. Most of its contents are lists. Ugh. If I had the time, I would do some research and write some background information. Because, while ASIMO is featured often in several medias, there are rumours that ASIMO actually requires computing power "behind the curtains", i.e. devices outside the robot's body to achieve the tasks assigned by its human operators. But then again, Honda states that the external devices are just required to watch internal parameters and initiate movement programs. --Roeme 09:55, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Newer versions to come?

It has been silent lately. Are there any new versions in developement? Any rumours? 84.177.218.105 18:29, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

Try reading this news release - 129.215.49.114 (talk) 02:56, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Appearances

Is it really necessary, or even practical, to list all of Asimo's appearances around the world? RainbowOfLight Talk 22:15, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

Yes it helps the article. Uchiha23 04:07, 13 November 2007 (UTC)
I'm afraid that's really not a good explanation. Why does it help the article? RainbowOfLight Talk 04:43, 13 November 2007 (UTC)
It expands the article by providing information.. Well that's how I look at it.. We could shorten the list however. Uchiha23 04:41, 14 November 2007 (UTC)
Well, just to expand the article means nothing. Trivia sections expand articles and yet they're frowned upon in Wikipedia policy. I think taking out the list is a good idea. RainbowOfLight Talk 19:16, 14 November 2007 (UTC)
I agree. The list doesn't seem to have any encyclopedic value. WP:LIST, WP:TRIVIA, and WP:HTRIVIA are probably most relevant. -Phoenixrod (talk) 18:32, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

In case anyone wants to see the removed section in the future, here's the diff: [7]. -Phoenixrod (talk) 15:50, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

Should the world tour be mentioned anywhere?

Robotboy2008 01:15, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

If you want to cite it properly, it would probably be okay to mention that Asimo has gone on tour around the world, making several stops in certain countries. RainbowOfLight Talk 02:24, 3 December 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Quick comment

The Link E2 seems to be a circular link (which may be correct). Links E3-E6 do not lead to pages (i.e. have not been created). [[User:Cs1kh]] (talk) 14:46, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Falling Down the Stairs

Is this important there should be a section BaconBoy914 (talk) 13:41, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] ASIMO conducts The Detroit Symphony Orchestra

http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/14/asimo-burns-as-yo-yo-ma-fiddles/

--70.126.236.79 (talk) 05:50, 15 May 2008 (UTC)