Toyota Humanoid Can Outrun ASIMO

Writing by Evan Ackerman on Thursday, 23 of July , 2009 at 6:04 am

The standard for full size, free running humanoids has been Honda’s ASIMO pretty much forever. Toyota’s partner robot humanoids, who have already displayed multiple talents including violin playing, have been jogging to close the gap. The video above shows a Toyota robot displaying balancing skills and running (i.e. feet completely leave the ground with each stride) at 7 km/h, besting ASIMO’s top speed of 6 km/h.

ASIMO still has a leg up on the Toyota robots when it comes to variable terrain (stairs, for example) and human interactivity, but Toyota is catching up fast… And as any runner knows, nothing pushes you to achieve more effectively than another person running right behind you. Except maybe a robot running right behind you. A robot with a taser. Yeah, then you’ll be achieving, or else.

Oh, and by the way… The reason this post doesn’t have an Uncanny Valley tag is that these humanoid robots aren’t uncanny because they look like robots. With robot heads. And I bet most people are completely fine with that. So here’s the deal with android heads: just don’t. Unless you can make the next Commander Data, leave the robot looking like a robot.

[ Toyota Partner Robots ] VIA [ Smart Machines ]

Comments (4)

Category: Androids, Artificial Intelligence

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4 Comments

Comment by Zool

Made Thursday, 23 of July , 2009 at 11:17 am

Its impressive it can run faster, but this robot and Asimo both still run like they are in desperate need of getting to a toilet!. :)

Comment by Kouroth

Made Thursday, 23 of July , 2009 at 4:31 pm

Agreed Zool. Some day they’ll be able to move more elegantly.

Comment by Joey1058

Made Saturday, 25 of July , 2009 at 2:40 am

Yes, running is nice. I was more impressed with the fact that the bot maintained its balance when the girl pushed it around. Our b est defense before was to just trip our robotic overlords. Now we need to come up with a new strategy!

Comment by Anastasios-Antonios Toulkeridis

Made Sunday, 26 of July , 2009 at 1:29 am

i’m very impressed. At last Honda has serious competition