Honda Motor Co., Ltd. · research humanoid
ASIMO
A child-height (120 cm) walker with Honda's smoother 'i-WALK' gait that could handle ordinary stairs and slopes. Honda chose the height so it could reach light switches, door knobs and table tops.
- Price
- —Not published
- Height
- 120 cmTaller than 12%
- Weight
- 43 kgHeavier than 28%
- Payload
- —Not published
- Speed
- 1.6 km/hFaster than 13%
- Battery
- —Not published
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Why it matters
Became the world's best-known humanoid; inducted into Carnegie Mellon's Robot Hall of Fame in 2004 for showing human-like mobility.
Real-world use
Leased to companies for receptions and events, and performed for the public at Honda showrooms and Tokyo's Miraikan until March 2022.
Maker
Honda Motor Co., Ltd.Company · founded 1948 · Tokyo, Japanpublic company (TYO: 7267; NYSE: HMC)
How it stacks up
Against other humanoids that publish the figure. Pick a measure.
ASIMO is taller than 12% of the 305 other humanoids that publish a height. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
ASIMO is heavier than 28% of the 277 other humanoids that publish a weight. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
ASIMO is faster than 13% of the 122 other humanoids that publish a speed. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
ASIMO has more joints than 36% of the 236 other humanoids that publish a joints. Bars show the 7 closest in date.
Not published by the maker: payload, battery, price.
Public attention
A historic robot: no longer sold or in use, so it is not ranked against current humanoids.
- 4,037 views of its Wikipedia article in the last 90 days (ASIMO)
- 2 news stories from reputable press listed on this page
Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-14; same method for every robot. How it is measured
What’s inside
The parts the company has talked about publicly.
- Movement
- Walks on legs · 26 joints
- Actuators & motors
- Each joint uses a servomotor, a harmonic speed reducer and a drive control unit (Honda 2000 release); 26 degrees of freedom in total (head 2, arms 10, hands 2, legs 12).
- Hands
- 1 degree of freedom per hand (simple grippers).
- Sensors & vision
- Six-axis force sensor in each foot; gyroscope and acceleration sensor in the torso.
- Compute
- On-board walking/operation control unit and a wireless transmission unit; operated from a workstation or a portable controller.
- Battery & power
- 38.4 V, 10 Ah nickel-metal-hydride power supply (Honda, 2000).
- Materials & build
- Redesigned skeletal frame with thinner walls to save weight (Honda 2000 release).
- AI & software
- Honda i-WALK predictive walking control, which lets ASIMO turn smoothly without stopping.
- Other details
- First of the ASIMO line; rentals to businesses began in 2001 according to Honda's history page.
Lineage
Every Honda humanoid in order.
P11996Retired
P21996Retired
P31997Retired- ASIMO2000Retired
ASIMO (new ASIMO)2005Retired
All-new ASIMO2011Retired- No public photo yetWe only show photos we're allowed to useE2-DR2017Prototype
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. also makes 1 machine. See every Honda Motor Co., Ltd. robot
Made, sold and where
Unit counts are usually company figures; analysts often disagree.
- Price
- Not published
- How to get one
- No official buying page found
- Sold or delivered
- Never sold; offered for rental to companies from 2001 (Honda)
- Where it is sold or used
- Japan, with appearances worldwide
News
The latest 2, newest first. Summaries are ours; tap through for the original.
- ASIMO rental service begins
Honda began renting ASIMO to companies for events and receptions.
Honda - Honda launches ASIMO
Honda unveiled ASIMO, a 120 cm humanoid with its new i-WALK walking technology.
Honda
Side by side with its peers
Picked by the same rules for every humanoid: another maker’s robot that moves the same way, is at the same stage and does at least one of the same main jobs, first shown within two years. Closer size and price rank higher. Few robots match closely, so these are the nearest matches. How we choose
| Measure | ASIMOHonda |  SDR-3XSony (Digital Creatures Laboratory)Same job: entertainment · Both walk · Both past robots |  PINOJST ERATO Kitano Symbiotic Systems Project (later licensed to ZMP)Same job: entertainment · Both walk · Both past robots |  QRIO (SDR-4X)SonySame job: entertainment · Both walk · Both past robots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First shown | 2000-11-20 | 2000-11-21 | 2000 | 2002-03-19 |
| Status | Retired | Retired | Retired | Discontinued |
| Height | 120 cm | 50 cm | 71 cm | 58 cm |
| Weight | 43 kg | — | — | 6.5 kg |
| Joints | 26 | 24 | — | 38 |
| Speed | 1.6 km/h | 0.9 km/h | — | 1.1 km/h |
| Payload | — | — | — | — |
| Battery | — | — | — | 1 h |
| Price | — | — | $30,000 | — |
Sources
Figures come from the maker. Every link below backs something on this page.
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