Asimov's Foundation Series Audio

Listner Nelson has been perusing the archive.org public domain site and came across my favorite series of books.  The "Empire" series by Issac Asimov.  These books were a departure for Doctor Asimov in that there were no robots in the Empire universe but to be honest the story line was every bit as intriguing as a robot novel.

Check out the listing by clicking HERE

Meet the New Faster, Smarter Asimo

Honda has massively improved its robot platform Asimo.   The first major upgrade is a new set of legs that allow Asimo to travel on uneven surfaces, run at nearly 6 mph and even walk backwards.

Another improvement is Asimo's redesigned hands.  Hands which now have 13 degrees of freedom, enabling the 'bot to hold and manipulate objects without crushing or dropping them.  So much freedom in fact that Asimo can communicate with the deaf using ASL (American sign language).

Asimo's intelligence has been greatly improved as well.  The robot can now walk around without the need for an operator.  Asimo also has great situational awareness.  This would say allow him to move out of the way to avoid a collision   in a hallway or other locals.




Here is the complete Engadget article