Honda's ASIMO humanoid robot has spent the last two years on tour, wowing crowds across the U.S. with its seemingly autonomous activity and ability to dance, shake hands and walk up stairs. But while Honda shuttled ASIMO from New York to California, another Pacific Rim corporation, Kawada Industries in Japan, has been putting the final touches on an even larger biped that can do what no humanoid its size has done before: lie down, get up, and help a human carry light loads.

Built and developed over the course of five years with $4.5 million in Japanese government subsidies (and unspecified private funds), the HRP-2 "Promet" humanoid robot stands roughly five feet tall and weighs 127 pounds. Unveiled for the first time in the U.S. at the RoboNexus Expo in Santa Clara, California, the HRP-2 walked, talked in a virtually unintelligible voice, balanced on one foot, and then left the audience stunned as it lowered itself to the ground, lay down, and then, slowly, stood back up.

That's not its only trick. The robot, which has 30 motors and two 1.2-GHz Linux PCs, can hoist up to 20 pounds, using the same arm strength it displayed to lie down and get up. It can even carry a panel in concert with a human and, again in contrast with the ASIMO, cross one leg in front of the other to, for example, walk across a narrow plank. The robot can "see" thanks to three CCD cameras in its head, but can't "hear," because it lacks a microphone. Instead, like the ASIMO, the HRP-2 has limited autonomy and gets most of its marching orders via wireless remote control. The HRP-2's battery, which gives about 1 hour of life per charge, is hidden somewhere in the robot's midsection and helps provide balance.

The HRP-2 won't be appearing in showrooms anytime soon. Kawada officials said that it is still essentially a research project, with ten universities around Japan currently studying the robot or various parts of it.

See the HRP-2 lie down and get back up again! (2MB WMV file)