Not only humans who retire after a long career. Honda Motor ASIMO humanoid robot will also retire on Friday (2/4) this week. He ended his 'career' for 20 years stunning the public with his various appearances.
ASIMO stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility. Since its debut in 2000, ASIMO has become a symbol of Japan's pioneering robot technology.
He has mastered the ability to run, can jump on one leg, speaks sign language using five fingers and is good at pouring coffee into cups without spilling.
But Honda stopped all development of the ASIMO in recent years after the last upgrade in 2011. However, the latest update is even more sophisticated as it gives the ability to make autonomous decisions such as avoiding bumping into someone while walking.
Instead, in September last year, Honda announced plans to develop a robot avatar that would allow users to operate it virtually remotely. The new robot will be equipped with a multi-finger hand and a native AI-powered remote control function.
Quoted from Kyodo News, ahead of Asimo's last appearance, his fans including parents and children visited the Honda showroom to meet and say goodbye to the child-sized and astronaut-looking robot.
Honda has said it will continue selling ASIMO merchandise even after the robot has retired and is keeping the character active. On various occasions, ASIMO shows his human-like abilities. In 2002 for example, in the year marking the 25th anniversary of Honda's listing on the New York Stock Exchange, ASIMO rang the stock market bell to open the trading session.
Then in 2014, when US President Barack Obama visited Japan, the two-legged robot greeted him in English and exhibited movements including kicking a ball and jumping at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo.
Not surprisingly, the ASIMO robot is so popular and has many fans from various circles. Sayonara Asimo, enjoy your retirement!