Honda's Asimo (2021)
Posted3 months agoActive2 months ago
robotsgottalents.comTechstory
calmpositive
Debate
20/100
RoboticsArtificial IntelligenceHonda Asimo
Key topics
Robotics
Artificial Intelligence
Honda Asimo
The post showcases Honda's ASIMO robot, highlighting its capabilities and advancements, sparking discussion on robotics and AI among HN users.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Light discussionFirst comment
22m
Peak period
4
0-2h
Avg / period
2
Comment distribution16 data points
Loading chart...
Based on 16 loaded comments
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Oct 25, 2025 at 4:32 PM EDT
3 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Oct 25, 2025 at 4:54 PM EDT
22m after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
4 comments in 0-2h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Oct 26, 2025 at 10:37 PM EDT
2 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 45706744Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 12:50:41 PM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
Then like the space shuttle, it just disappeared. I feel like there was Asimo.... and then nothing for decades until now.
Sure I can have a robot do my dishes, but it's still more efficient to just use a dishwasher appliance.
What robots are good at is automation in factories, allowing manufacturers to streamline tasks, perform them faster and save labour, which does drive down prices.
Perhaps with ai the technology to make 'intelligent' robots is finally within sight, but the physical technology is still not there yet, and even if it would be i doubt it would become widely adopted.
Eventually having a humanoid at home doing the dishes and whatever other tasks we find boring is a byproduct of developing a capable robot for the repetitive and dangerous jobs.
Asimo was a dead end. Preprogrammed/precalculated static balance, that uncanny 'Im holding a surprise in my diaper' walk.
It's not like they just hit the precalculated coordinates on the floor with the feet, they used gyros and hand-written algorithms to compute all the forces in real time, just like today those Unitree bots do with GPU trained algorithms. They're fundamentally the same. Very little had changed.
Who's making up that hallucination? This isn't even the second time I've come across those "preprogrammed" BS.
Now that the motion part of robotics is pretty much solved, we need grippers and sensors - still being worked on - then enough of a brain to be easily taught new skills and be able to perform them reliably in real-world conditions.
I know I'm going to be downvoted for this, but I have to say that Teslabot shuffling along with what appears to be clenched butt cheeks looks more Asimo era in terms of dynamics than SOTA. It's not even clear if it has dynamic balance or depends on keeping center of mass over its feet.
Interestingly, Boston Dynamics is presently owned by a car company. It's Hyundai rather than Honda.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTlV0Y5yAww