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ASIMO
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2011

2002 (Version 1.5)

On December 5th, 2002, ASIMO's overall system architecture as been redeveloped with a focus on visual and planning intelligence. Now it can track and recognize faces, as well as follow human gestures, like moving to where someone is pointing to or halting in place.[1] It could also recognize the posture of a person and recognize its environment.[2] With added internet connectivity, its able to provide news and weather updates. Rental of this new version started January 2003.

In the January 2004 issue of AS+F magazine, Honda said that around 26 ASIMO units had been built up to that point, including spares.[6] There were 5 at Honda's facilities, 7 assigned to various companies, also with units in the U.S., Thailand, Germany, and Belgium, each having a backup machine. They also mentioned that there were unofficial ASIMO units at the Wako research center.


Hardware

Stereo SONY XC-ES alternate 1/3" color CCDs have replaced the cameras that were previously only used for monitoring, and a Mobile Pentium III-M 1.2GHz handles image processing.[4]

Three separate processors handle image processing, speech recognition and synthesis, and control and planning respectively. A PCI bus is used to interconnect them.

It was possible for ASIMO to be connected via direct attach cable for video output of it's vision, along with data overlays.[3] It seems to use something like a D-Sub 15 pin display cable.


Software

The image pipeline starts with the stereo cameras mounted on ASIMO's head. These color CCD cameras capture stereo images, which are then converted to black and white by the frame grabber to generate a depth map. To accurately utilize the images captured, the position of the cameras is determined by calculating the joint angles of ASIMO. With this information, 3D objects and moving objects are extracted by processing the images from the frame grabber on the vision computer, which sends the necessary data to the navigation and interaction systems. Since the camera pose is determined, the system can estimate the distance and direction of objects. ASIMO stores the bounding boxes of the extracted objects in its local map, which is necessary for obstacle avoidance and planning detours.[4]


To track humans, they need to be extracted from the image. First, one alogrithm seperates the foreground from the image, then another extracts human shapes, making sure to seperate individual people. Face detection then uses skin color to identify face contours.

There are two gesture recognition systems. The first is 2D, recognizing gestures including handshake, hand circling, bye-bye, hand swing, high-hand and come here call. And the second is 3D, recognizing pointing gestures, using the head and hand positional relationship and the depth map to then move to the desired location.

ASIMO is capable of storing and identifying about 10 people. The database of faces and the details along with them are stored on the external management system.

Lastly, the planning system is behavior based, allowing flexibility and modularity, making reactive in rapidly changing environments. For preplanned routes, ASIMO interfaces with an external map management system located offline


Controls

A new type of controller was seen being used at ROBODEX2003. In the image above you can see the woman holding a touch pad that is used to execute choreographed motions.


Ancillary Equipent

Taken backstage at Robodex 2003, this shows how charging took place between performances.[9]

And this is the protective travel case for ASIMO and its peripherals.[5]


Variations

Color variations include gray, green, red, blue and navy.

This navy colorway was seen at an Aichi Honda dealership, in preparation for Expo 2005.


Research

Footstep Planning

Object Recognition

In the Discovery Channel documentary 'Update 2056: The World in 50 Years', an object recognition test bed was shown.


Other

Between August 9th and August 15th of 2004, Honda created a service called "Dokodemo ASIMO" where you could view ASIMO's live perspective over the internet via PC or NTT DoCoMo FOMA enabled mobile device, available to the first 100 people to register.[7] The ASIMO you were able to connect to was located in the Fun Fun Lab at Twin Ring Motegi.[8]

During Business Show Tokyo2003&IPA Spring 2003, this service was demoed at the NTT DoCoMo booth.


Appearances


References

  1. Honda's new ASIMO with gesture recognition and network connectivity - ASIMO's "practicality" greatly improved
  2. Technology announced in 2002
  3. Honda unveils new ASIMO features to the press - posture and gesture recognition technology demonstrated
  4. The intelligent ASIMO: System overview and integration
  5. ASIMO in Prague
  6. AS+F (Azuf) January 2004 issue electronic version
  7. "ASIMO Anywhere" System Public Monitor Test Recruitment
  8. This is what "ASIMO Everywhere" was like.
  9. Tompei - ROBODEX2003