Résumé IA
En 1996, Honda a présenté le Prototype 2 (P2), le premier robot humanoïde autonome capable de marcher sans tomber. Mesurant 183 centimètres pour 210 kilogrammes, le P2 pouvait contrôler sa posture pour maintenir l'équilibre et actionner plusieurs articulations simultanément. Cette réalisation vient d'être reconnue comme un IEEE Milestone, avec une cérémonie de dédicace prévue le 28 avril au Honda Collection Hall, sur le circuit Mobility Resort Motegi au Japon. Derrière cette prouesse, quatre ingénieurs Honda : Kazuo Hirai, Masato Hirose, Yuji Haikawa et Toru Takenaka, qui avaient lancé le projet dès 1986 avec l'ambition de créer un robot domestique capable de monter des escaliers, contourner des obstacles et manipuler des outils. Cette avancée a redéfini les standards de la robotique mondiale. Avant le P2, aucun robot ne pouvait se déplacer de manière autonome sans perdre l'équilibre — le WABOT-1, construit en 1973 à l'Université Waseda de Tokyo, pouvait certes marcher et parler japonais, mais de façon instable et sans capacité à éviter les obstacles. L'équipe Honda a dû repenser entièrement la biomécanique humaine : analyser les mouvements du corps, adapter le nombre d'articulations (hanches, genoux, chevilles, épaules), et installer des moteurs DC avec des systèmes de réduction harmonique pour concilier compacité et couple élevé. Les premiers prototypes, comme le E0 — une simple paire de jambes — mettaient 15 secondes par pas. Chaque itération a permis de passer de la marche statique en ligne droite à une locomotion dynamique et autonome, ouvrant la voie aux robots humanoïdes modernes comme l'ASIMO ou ceux développés aujourd'hui par Boston Dynamics, Figure ou 1X. Quand C-3PO est apparu sur grand écran en 1977, l'idée d'un androïde marchant et interagissant comme un humain relevait de la science-fiction. Il aura fallu près de vingt ans à l'ingénierie réelle pour rattraper cette vision — et le P2 en a posé la première pierre concrète.
When you hear the term humanoid robot , you may think of C-3PO , the human-cyborg-relations android from Star Wars . C-3PO was designed to assist humans in communicating with robots and alien species. The droid, which first appeared on screen in 1977, joined the characters on their adventures, walking, talking, and interacting with the environment like a human. It was ahead of its time. Before the release of Star Wars , a few androids did exist and could move and interact with their environment, but none could do so without losing its balance. It wasn’t until 1996 that the first autonomous robot capable of walking without falling was developed in Japan. Honda ’s Prototype 2 (P2) was nearly 183 centimeters tall and weighed 210 kilograms. It could control its posture to maintain balance, and it could move multiple joints simultaneously. In recognition of that decades-old feat, P2 has been honored as an IEEE Milestone . The dedication ceremony is scheduled for 28 April at the Honda Collection Hall , located on the grounds of the Mobility Resort Motegi , in Japan. The machine is on display in the hall’s robotics exhibit, which showcases the evolution of Honda’s humanoid technology. In support of the Milestone nomination, members of the IEEE Nagoya (Japan) Section wrote: “This milestone demonstrated the feasibility of humanlike locomotion in machines, setting a new standard in robotics.” The Milestone proposal is available on the Engineering Technology and History Wiki . Developing a domestic android In 1986 Honda researchers Kazuo Hirai, Masato Hirose, Yuji Haikawa, and Toru Takenaka set out to develop what they called a “domestic robot” to collaborate with humans. It would be able to climb stairs, remove impediments in its path, and tighten a nut with a wrench, according to their research paper on the project . “We believe that a robot working within a household is the type of robot that consumers may find useful,” the authors wrote. But to create a machine that would do household chores, it had to be able to move around obstacles such as furniture, stairs, and doorways. It needed to autonomously walk and read its environment like a human, according to the researchers. But no robot could do that at the time. The closest technologists got was the WABOT-1 . Built in 1973 at Waseda University , in Tokyo, the WABOT had eyes and ears, could speak Japanese, and used tactile sensors embedded on its hands as it gripped and moved objects. Although the WABOT could walk, albeit unsteadily, it couldn’t maneuver around obstacles or maintain its balance. It was powered by an external battery and computer. To build an android, the Honda team began by analyzing how people move, using themselves as models. That led to specifications for the robot that gave it humanlike dimensions, including the location of the leg joints and how far the legs could rotate. Once they began building the machine, though, the engineers found it difficult to satisfy every specification. Adjustments were made to the number of joints in the robot’s hips, knees, and ankles, according to the research paper. Humans have four hip, two knee, and three ankle joints; P2’s predecessor had three hip, one knee, and two ankle joints. The arms were treated similarly. A human’s four shoulder and three elbow joints became three shoulder joints and one elbow joint in the robot. The researchers installed existing Honda motors and hydraulics in the hips, knees, and ankles to enable the robot to walk. Each joint was operated by a DC motor with a harmonic-drive reduction gear system, which is compact and offered high torque capacity. To test their ideas, the engineers built what they called E0. The robot, which was just a pair of connected legs, successfully walked. It took about 15 seconds to take each step, however, and it moved using static walking in a straight line, according to a post about the project on Honda’s website. (Static walking is when the body’s center of mass is always within the foot’s sole. Humans walk with their center of mass below their navel.) The researchers created several algorithms to enable the robot to walk like a human, according to the Honda website. The codes allowed the robot to use a locomotion mechanism, dynamic walking, whereby the robot stays upright by constantly moving and adjusting its balance, rather than keeping its center of mass over its feet, according to a video on the YouTube channel Everything About Robotics Explained . “P2 was not just a technical achievement; it was a catalyst that propelled the field of humanoid robotics forward, demonstrating the potential for robots to interact with and assist humans in meaningful ways.” —IEEE Nagoya Section The Honda team installed rubber brushes on the bottom of the machine’s feet to reduce vibrations from the landing impacts (the force experienced when its feet touch the ground)—which had made the robot lose its balance. Between 1987 and 1991, three more prototypes (E1, E2, and
