ASIMO

ASIMO is a humanoid robot created by Honda. Standing at 120 centimeters weighing 54 kilograms, the robot resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack and can walk or run on two feet at speeds up to 6 km/h.

ASIMO was created at Honda's Research & Development Wako Fundamental Technical Research Center in Japan. It is the current model in a line of eleven that began in 1986 with E0.

Officially, the name is an acronym for "Advanced Step in Innovative MObility". Honda's official statements claim that the robot's name is not a reference to science fiction writer and inventor of the Three Laws of Robotics, Isaac Asimov.

As of February 2009, there are over 100 ASIMO units in existence.Each one costs just under $1 million to manufacture, and some units are available to be hired out for $166,000 year.

I had the experience of shaking hands with this cute and highly intelligent humanoid robot,when it was brought to India for a Robotics exhibition back in 2008. It performed a "robotwalk" for the audience.That was a great show and I am glad i was there.

This is one of the reasons i love Engineering, you actually experience a lot of things even before u are a graduate,which other people can only look with an awe !!

I look forward to my further interactions with such robots,
For now i have a Robotics exam tomorrow.

More About Asimo can be found out here