Say Hello to ASIMO

by Matthew Hotz

Robots. We all fear them.

As everyone knows, once the machines become self-aware, they will stop at nothing to destroy the human race, or at least enslave the human race and use the heat generated by farms of human bodies to power their world. Somehow, nuclear weapons will be involved.

Honda is bringing its ASIMO (Advanced Step In Innovative Mobility) robot to Philadelphia to show us that the Robot Wars will not begin anytime soon.

ASIMO is 4 feet tall, weighs 110 pounds and looks like an adorable little astronaut. It doesn't operate independently because it can't really see. Its eyes are actually cameras that allow its human operators to see from ASIMO's perspective.

What can ASIMO do? It can walk at a maximum speed of 1 mile per hour. It can turn corners without stopping, and it can hold small objects like a newspaper in its cold, lifeless hands. It can walk around with its newspaper for about 30 minutes before it needs a new battery.

Clearly, this will not be the robot they send back in time to kill your mother before your birth to prevent you from leading the resistance.

ASIMO represents 16 years of work by Honda scientists. At this pace, we shouldn't have to worry about robot death squads for a while. Use this precious time to see ASIMO, so that when the robot death squads come, you can say, "Remember when robots were just adorable little astronauts who walked slowly and carried newspapers?"

Say Hello to ASIMO, Sat., Sept. 20, 11:30 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. and Sun., Sept. 21, noon, 1:30 and 3:30 p.m., free with museum admission ($10-$12.75), Mandell Center, The Franklin Institute, 220 N. 20th St., 215-448-1200, www.fi.edu.

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