Honda Motor's chief operating officer (R&D Centre X) Tsutomu Wakitani said, "Honda set up R&D (research and development) Centre X in April 2017 as a new R&D operation separate from existing motorcycle, automobile, power products and HondaJet business units. Initially, R&D Centre X will focus mainly on robotics and the underlying AI technologies. However, R&D Centre X is planning to flexibly change its target areas along with changes thathappen in the real world."
Honda will accelerate its open innovations also in China where changes are happening in the areas of IT and electrification at a breakneck speeds.
Among Honda Motor's highlights at CES Asia 2017 are:
Honda NeuV
A concept automated EV commuter vehicle equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology called an “emotion engine.”
NeuV makes judgments about the driver’s state of stress based on facial expressions and/or tone of voice and provides assistance to the driver to support safe driving.
Moreover, NeuV will learn the lifestyle and driver preferences and suggest different options depending on the situation.
Furthermore, when it is not in use by the owner, and with the owner’s permission, NeuV will self-drive and offer ride sharing to other people.
Honda Riding Assist
Honda Riding Assist is an experimental motorcycle model Honda developed by applying proprietary balance control technologies Honda amassed through its research into humanoid robots represented by Honda’s ASIMO bipedal humanoid robot.
Honda exhibited the world premiere of this concept model at CES 2017.
With or without a rider, Honda Riding Assist self-balances and stands on its own.
Even when the rider loses balance to a certain degree, the motorcycle maintains its balance on its own and mitigates wobbling during low-speed riding and stopping and the risk of a fall while handing the motorcycle.
At the same time, during normal riding, Honda Riding Assist realizes maneuverability equivalent to that of existing motorcycle models.
Honda Riding Assist is Honda’s proposal to make touring and everyday use of motorcycles more fun.
UNI-CUB
Honda UNI-CUB
UNI-CUB β is a personal mobility product that uses Honda’s proprietary balance control technologies, and enables freedom of moving forward, backward, laterally and diagonally simply by shifting body weight.
UNI-CUB is equipped with ROS (Robot Operating System) compatible API (Application Programing Interface) which made it possible to operate the device remotely, so that it can be used in many ways including unmanned delivery service or to usher guests on pre-programmed routes.
