Honda (robotics)
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Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational corporation that has been a pioneer in humanoid robot research since 1986. Best known for creating ASIMO, one of the most recognized robots in history, Honda's robotics division has spent nearly four decades advancing bipedal locomotion, dexterous manipulation, and human-robot interaction. The company's robotics work spans the E-series walking prototypes (1986 to 1993), the P-series full humanoid prototypes (1993 to 2000), the ASIMO platform (2000 to 2022), medical assist devices, the Honda Avatar Robot, the Haru social robot, and the ASIMO OS vehicle operating system for the Honda 0 Series electric vehicles.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Honda is primarily an automobile and motorcycle manufacturer, but its robotics program has been one of the longest-running and most influential efforts in the history of humanoid robots. Honda's P2 prototype, unveiled in 1996, was the world's first self-contained bipedal humanoid robot capable of stable dynamic walking, and in April 2026 it was recognized as an IEEE Milestone.
Honda's humanoid robotics research began in 1986 at the Wako Fundamental Technology Research Center in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. The program was led by engineer Masato Hirose, who later became Executive Chief Engineer at Honda R&D. The initial motivation was straightforward: among the many possible forms a robot could take (wheeled, tracked, multi-legged), a bipedal humanoid design was considered the most practical for operating in environments built for humans, such as homes, offices, and public buildings with stairs, doorways, and narrow corridors.
At the time, no organization had achieved reliable bipedal walking in a full-sized robot. Honda's engineers began by studying the biomechanics of human walking, analyzing the human skeleton and gait cycle to understand how people maintain balance while shifting weight from one leg to the other. This foundational research informed the design of every subsequent Honda robot.
Honda committed substantial resources to the program over many years. The company is estimated to have spent roughly 1 percent of its annual R&D budget on robotics, which amounted to approximately $50 million per year as of 2012. The total investment across nearly four decades of continuous research represents one of the largest corporate commitments to humanoid robotics in history.
The E-series ("Experimental") prototypes were legs-only platforms with no torso or arms. Their sole purpose was to solve the fundamental challenge of stable bipedal locomotion.
| Prototype | Year | Key Achievement | Walking Speed | Height | Weight | Degrees of Freedom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E0 | 1986 | First bipedal walking (static gait) | ~5 sec/step | N/A | N/A | 6 |
| E1 | 1987 | Dynamic walking achieved | 0.25 km/h | N/A | N/A | 12 |
| E2 | 1989 | Lightweight alloy frame; faster dynamic gait | 1.2 km/h | 132 cm | 67.7 kg | 12 |
| E3 | 1991 | Human-pace walking speed | 3.0 km/h | N/A | N/A | 12 |
| E4 | 1991 | Extended knee mechanism | 4.7 km/h | N/A | N/A | 12 |
| E5 | 1992 | Autonomous walking with onboard sensors | 4.7 km/h | N/A | N/A | 12 |
| E6 | 1993 | Stair climbing and obstacle traversal (up to 30 cm) | 4.7 km/h | 174.3 cm | 150 kg | 12 |
E0, the first prototype, used static walking, meaning the robot kept its center of gravity directly over its support foot at all times and took approximately five seconds to complete a single step. By E1, Honda engineers had achieved dynamic walking, where the robot's center of gravity moves continuously forward as it shifts between legs, similar to how humans actually walk. E6, the final legs-only prototype, could autonomously navigate stairs and obstacles, proving that the fundamental problem of bipedal locomotion had been solved.
The progression from E0 to E6 increased degrees of freedom from 6 to 12 (standardized at E1 with 3 in each hip, 1 in each knee, and 2 in each ankle) and raised walking speed from near-zero to 4.7 km/h.
With bipedal walking largely solved, Honda shifted to building complete humanoid robots by attaching upper bodies with arms and hands to the walking platforms. The P-series ("Prototype") represented this critical transition from walking machines to full humanoids.
| Prototype | Year | Height | Weight | DoF | Walking Speed | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 1993 | 191.5 cm | 175 kg | 30 | N/A | First full Honda humanoid; external power |
| P2 | 1996 | 182 cm | 210 kg | 30 | 2.0 km/h | First self-contained bipedal humanoid |
| P3 | 1997 | 160 cm | 130 kg | 30 | 2.0 km/h | First fully independent bipedal humanoid |
P1 was Honda's first full humanoid robot. Standing 191.5 cm tall and weighing 175 kg, it had 30 degrees of freedom and could perform coordinated arm and leg movements such as turning switches, grabbing doorknobs, and carrying objects. However, P1 required an external power source and computer to operate.
P2 was a landmark achievement in robotics history. Unveiled in December 1996, it was described as the world's first self-regulating bipedal humanoid walking robot. All essential components, including an onboard computer, motor drivers, a 138V nickel-zinc battery, and wireless communication equipment, were built into the robot's body. P2 could walk on flat surfaces, climb stairs, and push carts autonomously, with a continuous operating time of 15 minutes.
P2's significance was recognized nearly three decades later when the IEEE designated it as an IEEE Milestone in 2026. The dedication ceremony took place on April 28, 2026 at the Honda Collection Hall at Mobility Resort Motegi in Japan. The IEEE citation acknowledged P2's real-time posture control, dynamic balance, gait generation, and multi-joint coordination as technical benchmarks that shaped the trajectory of modern robotics.
Introduced in September 1997, P3 achieved significant miniaturization compared to P2. Standing 160 cm tall and weighing 130 kg (80 kg lighter than P2), it was the first completely independent bipedal humanoid walking robot that could operate in human environments without being tethered to external equipment. Honda accomplished the size reduction by revising component materials and adopting a distributed control system.
Building on the E-series and P-series research, Honda unveiled ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) on October 31, 2000. ASIMO became the most publicly recognized humanoid robot in history and served as the flagship of Honda's robotics program for over two decades.
The original ASIMO stood just 120 cm tall and weighed 43 kg, a dramatic reduction from the P3's 160 cm and 130 kg. Honda found through research that 120 cm was ideal for a robot sharing living spaces with people, allowing it to operate light switches and door handles while remaining non-intimidating. Over 11 years, ASIMO went through multiple major upgrades, culminating in the 2011 "all-new" version with 57 degrees of freedom, a 9 km/h running speed, independently articulated fingers, and the ability to perform sign language.
| Generation | Year | Height | Weight | DoF | Max Speed | Operating Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASIMO (1st gen) | 2000 | 120 cm | 43 kg | 26 | 1.6 km/h (walk) | ~30 min |
| ASIMO (2nd gen) | 2002 | 130 cm | 54 kg | 34 | 2.5 km/h (walk) | 1 hour |
| ASIMO (running) | 2004 | 130 cm | 54 kg | 34 | 3 km/h (run) | 1 hour |
| ASIMO (new) | 2005 | 130 cm | 54 kg | 34 | 6 km/h (run) | N/A |
| ASIMO (intelligent) | 2007 | 130 cm | 54 kg | 34 | 6 km/h (run) | N/A |
| ASIMO (all-new) | 2011 | 130 cm | 48 kg | 57 | 9 km/h (run) | 1 hour |
ASIMO's cultural impact was extensive. It rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in 2002, conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2008, played soccer with U.S. President Barack Obama in 2014, performed at Disneyland for a decade, and was inducted into the Carnegie Mellon Robot Hall of Fame in 2004. Honda announced the end of ASIMO development in 2018 and retired the robot from public performances on March 31, 2022. Across all ASIMO units, the combined step count reached 33.26 million steps, covering a total walking distance of 7,907 km.
For a detailed account of ASIMO's development, capabilities, and cultural history, see the dedicated ASIMO article.
Honda's study of human bipedal locomotion for its humanoid robots yielded direct medical applications. Research on the Walking Assist Device began in 1999, leveraging the same biomechanical data and control algorithms developed for the E-series and ASIMO.
The Honda Walking Assist is a lightweight robotic exoskeleton worn on the hips and lower limbs. It detects hip joint positions during walking through sensors built into right and left motors, then provides a mild assistive force to guide lower-limb movements. The device tracks left-right symmetry, hip angle range, walking speed, and other gait parameters, correlating these characteristics against the user's measurement history for personalized therapy.
The Walking Assist Device is intended for people who can walk but have gait deficits, particularly stroke survivors. Key milestones in its deployment include:
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1999 | Research on Walking Assist began, leveraging ASIMO locomotion data |
| 2008 | Honda unveiled the experimental Walking Assist Device with bodyweight support |
| 2015 | Lease sales began at rehabilitation clinics in Japan; deployed to approximately 250 facilities |
| 2018 | CE Marking obtained for European distribution |
| 2019 | U.S. FDA 510(k) premarket clearance received (January 10, 2019) |
Clinical trials at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) verified the safety and effectiveness of the device for post-stroke gait rehabilitation, demonstrating additional benefits over standard therapy practices.
Honda also applied its balance control technology to personal mobility devices. The UNI-CUB, introduced in 2012, and its successor the UNI-CUB Beta (2013), are compact seated mobility devices that use Honda's proprietary Omni Traction Drive System (HOT Drive System). The rider controls speed, direction, and turning simply by shifting body weight, with posture sensors detecting natural movements and an intention estimation controller calculating the desired trajectory. The latest evolution, the UNI-ONE, features calculation speeds more than twice as fast as the UNI-CUB Beta, enabling highly responsive movement in all directions.
After retiring ASIMO, Honda redirected its robotics expertise toward avatar robots: remote-controlled humanoid systems that allow a human operator to act through the robot at a distant location. Honda formally announced its avatar robot initiative in September 2021 as part of a broader strategy for new business areas alongside eVTOL aircraft and space technologies.
The Honda Avatar Robot inherits core ASIMO technologies, including bipedal mobility systems and human-robot interaction principles. Its defining feature is a multi-fingered hand that dramatically surpasses ASIMO's dexterity. The hand uses a wire (cable)-driven mechanism that concentrates components in the forearm, generating fingertip force more than five times greater than ASIMO's hands. The hand can both delicately pick up small objects with fingertips and apply enough strength to open a tight jar lid, approaching the versatility of the human hand.
The system combines full remote control with Honda's original AI-supported autonomous functions, allowing the operator to switch between direct control and AI-assisted operation depending on the task.
Honda envisions the Avatar Robot being used for:
Honda aimed to begin technology demonstration testing of the Avatar Robot before the end of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. The company is targeting practical deployment in the 2030s. Current development efforts focus on downsizing the hardware and improving the precision of grasping and manipulation movements. The Avatar Robot was showcased at the Japan Mobility Show 2023.
Former ASIMO engineers lead the avatar robot program, ensuring continuity of institutional knowledge from Honda's decades of humanoid research.
Separate from the Avatar Robot, Honda Research Institute Japan developed Haru, a compact AI-powered social robot standing 30 cm tall. Haru is designed for tabletop interaction with people, using a built-in camera and microphones to capture biometric information such as facial expressions and voice tones. It analyzes this data to understand the user's emotional state and responds with empathetic expressions and emotionally supportive interactions.
In November 2024, Honda officially introduced 10 Haru units to the Virgen del Rocio University Hospital (HUVR) in Seville, Spain, for use in the pediatric oncology ward. A demonstration experiment running since 2021 showed that 95% of children were more actively engaged in rehabilitation when receiving guidance from Haru compared to conventional human guides. The hospital expects Haru to increase the number of assessments conducted each year from 510 to as many as 4,500.
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2025, Honda announced ASIMO OS, a vehicle operating system for its upcoming Honda 0 Series battery electric vehicles. The use of the ASIMO name pays tribute to the robot and reflects the technological continuity between Honda's robotics heritage and its automotive future.
ASIMO OS is a software platform that provides integrated control of electronic control units (ECUs) for vehicle systems, including:
The system incorporates robotics technologies originally developed for ASIMO, including environmental recognition and autonomous behavior control that enabled ASIMO to understand and react to the intentions of people around it. Honda is developing a system-on-chip with Renesas Electronics Corporation targeting 2,000 TOPS (trillion operations per second) of AI processing performance.
The Honda 0 SUV is scheduled to launch in the North American market in the first half of 2026, followed by the Honda 0 Saloon in late 2026. Both models will be built at the Honda EV Hub in Ohio and will expand to global markets including Japan and Europe. At CES 2026, Honda engineer Mahito Shikama received the Software-Defined Vehicle Innovator Award for his work on ASIMO OS.
Honda's post-ASIMO robotics strategy reflects a shift from building a single general-purpose humanoid robot toward developing multiple specialized robotic systems, each focused on delivering practical value in specific domains.
Key elements of this strategy include:
| Focus Area | Approach | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Avatar robots | Remote-controlled humanoids for hazardous/distant work | Practical use in the 2030s |
| Social robots (Haru) | AI-powered emotional support and engagement | Deployed at hospitals since 2024 |
| Medical devices | Walking Assist exoskeletons for rehabilitation | Commercially available in Japan, U.S., and Europe |
| Automotive AI (ASIMO OS) | Robotics-derived vehicle intelligence | Launching with 0 Series in 2026 |
| Personal mobility | UNI-CUB / UNI-ONE balance-controlled devices | Ongoing development |
Honda has stated that rather than pursuing a single all-purpose humanoid, it will focus on "research and development of various robots focused on specific functions, which will enable us to realize them and offer value to people and society more quickly." This pragmatic pivot acknowledges lessons learned from ASIMO: creating fully autonomous bipedal robots for everyday settings requires development timelines extending well beyond the 25+ years Honda already invested, comprehensive safety protocols for collision and fall scenarios, and societal consensus along with legal frameworks for robots operating among people.
Honda's nearly four-decade investment in humanoid robotics has left a lasting mark on the field.
Proving bipedal locomotion was viable. Before Honda's P2 stunned the robotics community in 1996, many researchers doubted that a full-sized humanoid could walk dynamically without falling. P2 validated the concept and shifted the entire field's ambitions. P2's real-time posture control, dynamic balance, and gait generation algorithms set technical benchmarks that influenced generations of humanoid platforms, from Boston Dynamics Atlas to Toyota T-HR3 to modern platforms like Figure 02 and Tesla Optimus.
Establishing ZMP-based control. ASIMO's locomotion relied on Zero Moment Point (ZMP) control, which became a foundational technique in bipedal robotics research worldwide. University robotics programs incorporated Honda's approaches to dynamic balance, sensor integration, and modular design into their curricula.
Inspiring a generation of engineers. ASIMO's two decades of public demonstrations, from the New York Stock Exchange to Disneyland, introduced millions of people to humanoid robotics. Students who saw ASIMO perform went on to study engineering and contribute to robotics advances that build on Honda's foundational work.
Demonstrating long-term corporate commitment. Honda's willingness to invest in humanoid robotics for decades without a clear commercial product demonstrated that sustained, patient R&D could push the boundaries of what robots could achieve. This model has influenced how other companies approach long-horizon robotics programs.
Technology transfer beyond robotics. Honda's robotics research has informed practical products including the Walking Assist medical device, UNI-CUB personal mobility, and now the ASIMO OS vehicle intelligence platform. This demonstrates how fundamental robotics research can generate value across diverse application domains.