The E series was a collection of successive
humanoid robot
A humanoid robot is a robot resembling the human body in shape. The design may be for functional purposes, such as interacting with human tools and environments, for experimental purposes, such as the study of bipedal locomotion, or for other pu ...
s created by the
Honda Motor Company
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...
between the years of 1986 and 1993.
These robots were only experimental, but later evolved into the
Honda P series The P series is a chronological progression of prototype humanoid robots as developed by Honda. The research conducted allowed the eventual creation of ASIMO, the world's most advanced humanoid robot of its time. Honda Motor's President and CEO Hiro ...
, with Honda eventually amassing the knowledge and experience necessary to create Honda's advanced humanoid robot:
ASIMO. The fact that Honda had been developing the robots was kept secret from the public until the announcement of the
Honda P2 The P series is a chronological progression of prototype humanoid robots as developed by Honda. The research conducted allowed the eventual creation of ASIMO, the world's most advanced humanoid robot of its time. Honda Motor's President and CEO Hir ...
in 1996.
E0, developed in 1986, was the first robot. It walked in a straight line on two feet, in a manner resembling human
locomotion
Locomotion means the act or ability of something to transport or move itself from place to place.
Locomotion may refer to:
Motion
* Motion (physics)
* Robot locomotion, of man-made devices
By environment
* Aquatic locomotion
* Flight
* Locomo ...
, taking around 5 seconds to complete a single step. Quickly engineers realised that in order to walk up slopes, the robot would need to travel faster.
The model has 6
degrees of freedom
Degrees of freedom (often abbreviated df or DOF) refers to the number of independent variables or parameters of a thermodynamic system. In various scientific fields, the word "freedom" is used to describe the limits to which physical movement or ...
: one in each groin, one in each knee and one in each ankle.
Models
*E0, developed in 1986.
*E1, developed in 1987, was larger than the first and walked at 0.25 km/h.
This model and subsequent E-series robots have 12
degrees of freedom
Degrees of freedom (often abbreviated df or DOF) refers to the number of independent variables or parameters of a thermodynamic system. In various scientific fields, the word "freedom" is used to describe the limits to which physical movement or ...
: 3 in each groin, 1 in each knee and 2 in each ankle.
*E2, developed in 1989, could travel at 1.2km/h, through the development of "dynamic movement".
*E3, developed in 1991, travelled at 3km/h, the average speed of a walking human.
*E4, developed in 1991, lengthened the knee to achieve speeds of up to 4.7km/h.
*E5, developed in 1992, was able to walk autonomously, albeit with a very large head.
*E6, developed in 1993, was able to autonomously balance, walk over obstacles, and even climb stairs.
See also
*
Honda P series The P series is a chronological progression of prototype humanoid robots as developed by Honda. The research conducted allowed the eventual creation of ASIMO, the world's most advanced humanoid robot of its time. Honda Motor's President and CEO Hiro ...
References
External links
History of humanoid robots- Honda official website
{{robot-stub
Robotics at Honda
Bipedal humanoid robots
1986 robots
1987 robots
1989 robots
1991 robots
1992 robots
1993 robots
1993 disestablishments
Japanese inventions