ASIMO, developed by HONDA Research Institute Japan Co., Ltd., is the world’s first humanoid robot to achieve autonomous biped walking. Despite the fact that research on humanoid robots began in the 1960s, no successful cases of dynamic biped walking robots existed before P2.

ASIMO, which is an abbreviation of its product name “Advanced Step for Innovative Mobility,” began being developed in 1986. Prototype 2 (P2) astonished the world when it was introduced to the public in December, 1996. A smaller, more multifunctional ASIMO, shown in Fig. 1, was unveiled in 2000.

In July 2002, ASIMO became famous around the world when it rang the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)’s opening bell. In 2004, it was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) [2].

1. [1] Honda’s website;
   http://www.honda.co.jp/ASIMO/about/technology2011/,
   http://www.honda.co.jp/ASIMO/history/ [accessed November 9, 2013]
2. [2] The Robot Hall of Fame, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU),
   http://www.robothalloffame.org/inductees/04inductees/asimo.html
3. [3] Report of the Takeda Instrumentation and Advanced Knowledge Foundation,
   http://www.takeda-foundation.jp/reports/pdf/ant0305.pdf [accessed November 9, 2013]
4. [4] Bonpei, “Anatomy! The secret of the Biped Robot “ASIMO”’s Walk System,” Gijyutu-Hyoronsha Co., Ltd., 2004 (in Japanese).
5. [5] T. Fukuda, “Robotics of Atom Boy,” Shueisha Co., Ltd. 2003 (in Japanese).