Yay! It looks like Honda is finally updating the Asimo, their bipedal humanoid robot. The first Asimo has been around forever—it was one of the first to actually walk up and down stairs, albeit slowly—but the next generation unit is designed to operate much more quickly with a greater flexibility (it also doesn't appear to have the huge astronaut-like battery backpack, either). The new model can run at up to 3km/hour and even gets a little airborne between steps.

JCN Network has the full press release with a detailing of all the improvements. I'm glad Honda isn't leaving the Asimo behind in the robot races. Bigger image after the jump.

Press Release [JapanCorp via SorobanGeeks]

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