July 25, 2000. Copyright 2000. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

FROM WHEELS TO LEGS -- HONDAÕS WALKING ROBOT

LONDON, July 25, Graphic News: SCIENCE FICTION is creeping -- actually walking -- closer to science fact with Honda Motor CoÕs. two-legged robot that can walk, reconnoitre and even do simple fix-it jobs.

The robot, P3, which looks like a cross between Star Wars star 3-CPO and a moon-walking astronaut, is the third generation android developed by Honda engineers.

The 5 foot 3 inch (1.6m), 348-pound (130kg) android has two arms, two legs, a squarish head and small platforms for feet.
P3 can walk forwards, backwards and sideways, go up and down stairs and recover its balance if given a shove, even on a slope it hasnÕt been on before. P3 walks at a sedate one and a quarter miles per hour (2km/h).

The result of 14 years of experimental work at the Honda R&D Robotic Lab in Woko, Japan, the robotÕs circuitry is sophisticated enough to decide for itself when to try to step over an obstacle, and when to look for and try another route.

That allows it to do uncannily human-seeming things -- such as finding a work site, pushing a cart to it, and tightening a loose bolt there -- all without continuous radio control. It only needs a simple initial command sent via a wireless ethernet network.

Susumu Tachi, a robotics professor at Tokyo University who led the Honda research team, likened it to the androids of science fiction.
ÒA truly humanoid robot was always considered to be just a dream or a product of fiction, but this proves that it is reality,Ó he said.

In addition to developing the worldÕs first human-like walking robot, HondaÕs scientists created an artificial intelligence that can mimic the way humans react to the world about them; perceive, analyze, recognize, assess and respond.

Using a concept known as Òfuzzy logic,Ó the robot can make decisions beyond the standard Òyes-noÓ function and respond to imprecise information. Basically, it adds a Òmaybe yes-maybe noÓ ability to logical thinking.

Until the late 1960s it was believed that artificial intelligence had to be Òhard codedÓ into the computerÕs memory to match the intelligence of a human -- a massive storage task. 

With fuzzy logic, P3 resorts to approximated definitions of tasks and objects in its memory to respond to unexpected events. It can then learn the consequences of its actions.

Indeed, a common thread among upcoming robots is that they have begun to grow more autonomous and intelligent. In some cases, they get tired, happy or angry. Last year Sony created AiBo, an electronic dog with emotions, that it sees as a platform for 21st-century consumer electronics.

Honda and Sony look set to become the first companies to take robots out of university laboratories and factory production lines and press them into service in the home.

Meanwhile, HondaÕs humanoid has already found a useful job to do. P3 is available for hire. For a mere 100,000 yen ($950) per day, Honda dealers can hire the android for special sales events.
/ENDS

Sources: Honda Motor Co., The Android Workshop, Reuters, Associated Press