15yo Indian boy battling aging disorder buddies up with Honda's Asimo

Nihal Bitla takes a selfie with Honda's humanoid robot Asimo in suburban New Delhi on Feb. 2. (Photo by Shinya Sawai)

by HIROSHI KOTANI

NEW DELHI   Nihal Bitla, a 15-year-old Indian boy with a genetic aging disorder, had three dreams: to take a ride in a Lamborghini, to meet Honda Motor's robot Asimo, and to go to Disneyland. Last year, he got his chance to check out the Italian supercar. And in early February, he found himself face to face with his favorite humanoid.

     The encounter happened just outside New Delhi at the venue for Auto Expo 2016 on Feb. 2. It was the day before India's largest motor show opened. Nihal's family had traveled from their home in a Mumbai suburb, more than 1,000km away.

     The big moment came at 4 p.m. With Nihal watching from a front-row seat, Asimo stepped on stage. The robot walked slowly, waving its left hand, to the center. Then it bowed to the young man, putting its palms together in front of its chest to perform the namaskar gesture. Nihal put his small, frail hands together and returned the greeting. With that, the show began.

Nihal Bitla, one of about 130 recognized sufferers of progeria worldwide, plays with a robotic dog. (Photo by Subhash Sharma)

ONE IN 18 MILLION   Nihal is the eldest son of Srinivas Bitla, 39, and Devi Bitla, 33. His father, Srinivas, runs a cellphone repair shop. The couple has three children.

     Srinivas and Nihal share a birthday -- Jan. 20. Srinivas said he was "very excited" when his son was born and, wishing him a lifetime of happiness, named him Nihal, which means "joyous and successful."

     Nihal weighed 3kg at birth. Before long, his body started to change. First, small spots and specks appeared on his skin. When he grew enough to sit, his head expanded and his hair began to fall out. His father took him to hospital after hospital, but no doctor was able to diagnose the problem. Finally, five years ago, they found Parag M. Tamhankar, a doctor at the National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health in Mumbai.

      Tamhankar told them that Nihal was born with progeria, or Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. Sufferers experience rapid aging -- seven to eight times faster than normal -- and live only to 14 on average. There are no known cures. 

     This congenital genetic disorder is said to occur at a rate of one in about 18 million people, regardless of race or gender. As of Jan. 1, the Progeria Research Foundation in the U.S. state of Massachusetts recognized 134 sufferers worldwide, including people with similar disorders.

 

     Nihal shows typical symptoms: He has deep wrinkles on his face and hands. He has no hair and weighs only 14kg. With his small, lean frame, he faces a high risk of heart attack. His outlook, however, is positive. "I'm happy as I am," he said. "I don't want to be like an ordinary child."

     Like many 15-year-olds, Nihal is shy. But he has a passion for robotics. At home, he has a small remote-controlled robot that he has disassembled and reassembled more than 15 times. He loves to watch YouTube videos of robots and other mechanical devices. When he talks about the history of Asimo, his eyes brighten. 

 Katsushi Inoue, president of Honda Cars India, heard about Nihal's dream to meet Asimo last September, when the company was beginning to plan for Auto Expo. Honda decided to invite Nihal and his family to a special stage presentation. Inoue kept a message for Nihal in mind as he prepared the show: "Stay courageous. Asimo will come and cheer you up."

FAST FRIENDS   During the performance, Asimo pulled off its signature tricks with ease. It stood on one leg, jogged and kicked a soccer ball. Then the robot danced to "India Waale," an upbeat song from a Bollywood movie. Nihal clapped along.

     The best part, for Nihal, may have come after Asimo finished strutting its stuff. He went up on stage and approached the robot. His father handed him a smartphone so that he could snap a selfie with his high-tech buddy.

     "I always liked Asimo," Nihal said. "He was my most favorite, and he will remain my favorite. We became friends on stage."

     Asked whether he would buy an Asimo if Honda started selling the robot, he was quick to say "yes." Told the robot might be very expensive, he replied with a smile, "I can save money to buy it."

     Nihal asked to meet the Honda team that works with Asimo. He peppered the engineers, who had come over from Tokyo, with questions like: "How long does it take to program Asimo?" "How much does Asimo move on a single charge of its battery?" "How many sensors are used in Asimo?"

RAISING AWARENESS   India, with its vast population, may have more than 60 people with progeria, but the U.S. research foundation is aware of only four. Nihal is leading a campaign to raise awareness, find unrecognized patients and introduce them to treatment options.

     Trials have shown that Lonafarnib, a cancer drug, is effective in reducing progeria symptoms to a certain extent, and Nihal takes the medication twice a day. Still, nobody can tell how long he will be able to carry on. "I am ready to accept everything," his father said.

     Dream No. 3, going to Disneyland, is still on the to-do list. Nihal's parents are hoping to arrange a trip to California.

Source;

http://asia.nikkei.com/magazine/20160303-INDIA-S-STARTUPS-THE-GREAT-DISRUPTORS/Life-Arts/Indian-boy-battling-aging-disorder-buddies-up-with-Honda-s-Asimo?page=1

Honda Unveils All-new ASIMO with Significant Advancements

11/07/2011 - TOKYO, Japan
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today unveiled an all-new ASIMO humanoid robot newly equipped with the world's first1 autonomous behavior control technology. With a further advance in autonomy, the all-new ASIMO can now continue moving without being controlled by an operator. Moreover, with significantly improved intelligence and the physical ability to adapt to situations, ASIMO took another step closer to practical use in an office or a public space where many people come and go.

1Honda internal research as of Nov. 8, 2011

Since the establishment of the company, Honda has continued to take on new challenges in the effort to create new products and advance technologies with the spirit of utilizing technology to help people. In the area of humanoid robot research, Honda has been developing and advancing the ASIMO humanoid robot to realize a dream to be useful for people and to help enrich people's daily lives.

Honda has a newly established collective name, Honda Robotics, to represent all of its robotics technologies and product applications created through its research and development of humanoid robots. While continuing the research and development of humanoid robots, Honda will also focus on applying robotics technologies to mass-produced products and putting product applications into practical use.

Based on this concept of Honda Robotics, Honda also introduced an experimental model of a task-performing robot arm that was developed while applying multi-joint simultaneous orbit control and posture control technologies amassed through the research and development of ASIMO. This robot arm can be remotely controlled to perform tasks in unstable places which are difficult for people to access.

All-new ASIMO
The all-new ASIMO is now advanced from an "automatic machine" to an "autonomous machine" with the decision-making capability to determine its behavior in concert with its surroundings such as movements of people. At the beginning of the development process, the following three factors were identified as necessary for a robot to perform as an autonomous machine, and the technologies required to realize these capabilities were developed;
1) high-level postural balancing capability which enables the robot to maintain its posture by putting out its leg in an instant,
2) external recognition capability which enables the robot to integrate information, such as movements of people around it, from multiple sensors and estimate the changes that are taking place, and
3) the capability to generate autonomous behavior which enables the robot to make predictions from gathered information and autonomously determine the next behavior without being controlled by an operator. With these capabilities, the all-new ASIMO takes another step closer to practical use in an environment where it coexists with people.

1. Advancement of intelligence capability
Honda has developed a new system that is a fundamental technology for advanced intelligence, which comprehensively evaluates inputs from multiple sensors that are equivalent to the visual, auditory, and tactile senses of a human being, then estimates the situation of the surrounding environment and determines the corresponding behavior of the robot. With this technology, ASIMO became capable of responding to the movement of people and the surrounding situations. For instance, ASIMO will stop its current action and change its behavior to accommodate the intention of the other party. Moreover, coordination between visual and auditory sensors enables ASIMO to simultaneously recognize a face and voice, enabling ASIMO to recognize the voices of multiple people who are speaking simultaneously, which is difficult even for a human being to accomplish.

Further, ASIMO is now capable of predicting the direction a person will walk within the next few seconds based on information from pre-set space sensors and quickly determining to take an alternate path to avoid a collision with the person if the estimated locations of the person and the ASIMO intersect.

2. Advancement of physical capability
The combination of strengthened legs, an expanded range of leg movement and a newly developed control technology that enables ASIMO to change landing positions in the middle of a motion has enabled ASIMO to walk, run, run backward, hop on one leg or on two legs continuously. As a result of acquiring the ability to make such agile motions, ASIMO has become capable of more flexibly adapting to changing external situations so that it can, as an example, walk over an uneven surface while maintaining a stable posture.

3. Improved task-performing capability
Honda has developed a highly functional compact multi-fingered hand, which has a tactile sensor and a force sensor imbedded on the palm and in each finger, respectively, and which acts to control each finger independently. Combined with the object recognition technology based on visual and tactile senses, this multi-fingered hand enables the all-new ASIMO to perform tasks with dexterity, such as picking up a glass bottle and twisting off the cap, or holding a soft paper cup to pour a liquid without squishing it. Moreover, ASIMO is now capable of making sign language expressions which require the complex movement of fingers.

Key specifications of the all-new ASIMO
1. Height
130 cm
2. Weight
48kg (decreased 6kg from previous model)
3. Operating degreesof freedom
Total: 57 degrees of freedom (increase of 23 degrees of freedom from previous model)
4. Running Speed
9km/hour (previous model: 6km/hour)

Establishing a collective name, Honda Robotics, to represent Honda's robotics technologies and product applications
Studying human beings to understand people and learn from people is the root of Honda's manufacturing. While positioning the humanoid robot research as one of the important pillars in the area of studying human beings, Honda has been working to realize various functions of a human being that is the ultimate mobility with intelligence.

Honda newly established a collective term, Honda Robotics, and the logo to represent Honda's robotics technologies and application products created through its research and development of humanoid robot represented by ASIMO.

In addition to the all-new ASIMO and the task-performing robot arm introduced today, the previously introduced the walking assist device with stride management system which supports walking for people with weakened leg muscles, the bodyweight support assist system which reduces the load on legs by supporting part of the bodyweight, and the U3-X, a compact one-wheel-drive mobility device that provides free movement in all directions, are examples of product applications resulting from the application of bipedal technology and balance control technology amassed through the research and development of ASIMO.

Striving to offer next-generation mobility products which expand the joy and fun of mobility, Honda will continue the robotics research that leads to ASIMO, walking assist devices, U3-X and other technologies. In addition, Honda will also work proactively toward putting such product applications into practical use.

Task-performing Robot Arm
Technologies developed for ASIMO were applied to an experimental model of a task-performing robot arm, which moves on a self-propelled base and was designed under the assumption of being utilized at disaster sites or other places too dangerous for people to work. Toward this end, the robot arm was made possible to be remotely controlled to approach the object and stably perform necessary tasks even in a narrow space with unstable footing and many obstacles.

The stability control technology used for ASIMO's walking and running was applied to stabilize the posture of the end of the arm even on an unstable surface so that the robot arm can exert the necessary power output to perform the task. Moreover, the application of other ASIMO technologies such as the compact layout structural designing technique and multi-joint simultaneous orbit control technology that simultaneously controls as many as 57 motors imbedded in the joints of the arms and legs has enabled the robot arm to avoid obstacles and approach an object even in a narrow space with obstacles such as a complicated layout of pipelines.

In the development process, the robot arm is designed to perform the task of opening and closing valves on pipelines; however, it will become capable of performing a variety of tasks by changing the end piece of the arm.

Key specifications of the task-performing robot arm
1. Length
1583 mm (arm length)
2. Width
338mm (base)
3. Depth
391mm (base)
4. Weight
29.5kg
5. Operating degreesof freedom
10 degrees of freedom (including the end piece of the arm)

Source;
http://www.hondanews.com/channels/corporate-headlines/releases/honda-unveils-all-new-asimo-with-significant-advancements