In 1996 Honda unveiled to the world their humanoid robot prototype. Ten years have quickly passed since this announcement, during which time a number of different robots have appeared in front of our eyes. Now there are robots that can avoid obstacles, run, dance, grab objects, play musical instruments, get up after falling, collaborate with humans, give directions, etc. What amazing progress! Yet, comparing these robots to familiar fictional robots such as Astro Boy or Mazinger Z, it is apparent that real-life robots still have ways to go to meet our ideals.

Take for example Honda's bipedal robot ASIMO. It was the first-ever robot in the world that could run, but its performance was limited. It could only walk at 2.5 kilometers per hour, run at 3 kilometers per hour, and carry an object weighing up to 500 grams. By comparison, Astro Boy could carry a passenger boat by himself and even Doraemon, with its "runaway from mice" speed of 129.3 kilometers per hour, is superior to ASIMO. The ideal robot should have at the least, physical abilities similar to a human, be able to communicate naturally with humans, and have the ability to become "friends" with us humans... Let's take a look at the possibilities for this dream to happen.

Up to now, many types of robots have appeared in anime and movies. The shape and size of these fictional robots have varied from the human-sized, to the gigantic, to the animal and mascot-like. and such. The ways these robots operated also have differed from one another. Some were autonomous, some required a pilot, and others were controlled remotely. With such dissimilar characteristics, the classification of a robot is now something of a diverse topic.

The real-life robots of today are not outdone by their fictional counterparts. When thinking of "robots," one would probably imagine a human-size autonomous humanoid like Astro Boy. However Tmsuk's "HyperRescueRobot T-52 Enryu" is 3.45 meters tall and weighs approximately 5 tons. Like the anime robots in Gigantor and Giant Robo, it is a big robot that is controlled remotely. Sakakibara Kikai's "Land Walker" is 3.4 meters tall and weighs 1 ton. It is also a big robot, but it's controlled by a pilot (actually seated inside the robot), like those robots in Mazinger Z and Gundam. Sony's AIBO is a "pet" robot that moves freely by itself. Sony is also currently developing an autonomous spherical-shaped robot that reminds us of the robotic pet Haro from the original "Mobil Suit Gundam" anime. What's the robot's name, you ask? It's "Taro." This is a very playful idea in the works, and it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling just thinking about it!

Among the different types of robots, the one type that has the ability to become friends, coexist and live with humans is the humanoid type robot. The reason for this is size. Large robots would not be able to enter our homes, and miniature robots may not be able to climb stairs or be able to do other activities with us without having a hard time.

In this respect, Doraemon serves as a good example of a robot that can coexist with us humans. Doraemon stands 129.3 centimeters tall, but interestingly his legs are only 18 centimeters long. To walk together at the same pace of Nobita, Doraemon would have to walk restlessly at around 4 times that pace. Even if he were to be able to do that, how would he go about doing a simple task such as climbing a stair? Assuming that the average height of a stair step in a typical home is around 20 centimeters, how exactly does Doraemon climb up a stair, considering that a single stair step is taller than his legs?

The secret is revealed in one of Doraemon's theme songs. In one of the verses of the song, it says, "short legs bouncing lightheartedly." Doraemon's soft legs must have a lot of bounce in them. He probably climbs stairs by using his springy legs to jump each step, thereby overcoming the hindrance of his short legs!

To live together with humans, it's necessary to have physical strengths similar to what humans have. Yet, in movies and anime, humanoids are illustrated as having an absurd amount of strength. This is a problem.

Astro Boy has 100,000 horsepower. It is said that the maximum power that a human can produce at a single instance is around 6 horsepower. So Astro Boy basically has 17,000 times the strength of a human. Let me ask you, could you live happily together with somebody who is 17,000 times stronger than you?

The interesting things is, Astro Boy stands only 1.40 meters tall and weighs a mere 35 kilograms. Being this small and having 100,000 horse power means he could run at 1400 kilometers an hour. But Astro Boy is known for how often he blinks. If he were to blink for only 0.1 seconds, he would travel 39 meters! During this time, he may run over people, cars, and who knows what else. For our sake, I hope he doesn't blink.

Arale from the popular manga, "Dr. Slump" is even scarier. Arale would throw a tyrannosaurus against the moon, and at the same time, destroy the moon. Her approximate power at this instance is 100 billion x 1 trillion x 1 trillion horsepower. This is equivalent to 40 trillion x 1 trillion times the power generating capacity of the entire Earth, and approaches 20 times the emissive energy of the sun. I wonder and worry about how the people in Penguin Village can live with this robot girl.

The point is, humanoids cannot be too strong. I hear that a lot of the current robot developers today were inspired by Astro Boy, and that is why they chose their profession. For the world's sake, I hope they are not thinking about emulating Astro Boy's powers.

I have to say, the most attractive thing about the robots in the imaginative world is their artificial intelligence. Currently, humanoids can only operate by following programs and commands set by humans. They cannot judge and work things on their own.

In this aspect, Astro Boy is an exceptional robot. Astro Boy says himself, "I'm a robot. So, unlike humans, I can judge the good from the bad." So does this mean he has decisive powers beyond that of humans? Of course, it's something that was acquired by Astro Boy himself, and not something that was programmed into him. A human's brain is in a way, "programmed" with information through accumulation of various lifetime experiences. Atom's robotic brain probably works in this same way. With such a robotic brain, data can be gathered and organized in a speed and accuracy beyond that of a normal human being. As a result, Astro Boy can reach a intellectual state that even Confucius and Socrates could not reach.

However, there are certain things that cannot be learned through simple information processing, words, and pictures. For instance, how hot fire is and how sweet sugar is. These kind of things can only be attained through practical experience. Without this characteristic of the "senses," it is impossible for a robot to think in the same way as a human. In other words, a robot must have a body that can feel senses, and be able to carry emotions similar to a human.

Doraemon is a excellent robot with respect to this. He has a insatiable craving for dorayaki and a weakness in mice. He also has feelings. For instance, he feels Nobita's frustration when Nobita is bullied by Jaian, and he helps Nobita when he feels it is necessary. Without these kind of traits, a robot cannot become a friend with a human in a real sense.

When robots advance to this level where they can carry emotion, the "Three Laws of Robotics" becomes a problem. These are the three rules written by the prolific science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. They state that [1] "A robot may not harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm;" [2] "A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law;" and [3] "A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law." Not to take anything away or challenge this great belief, but I feel it's a pity that these laws are based on the thought that humans are greater than robots. It seems as if we are creating a wall against robots. I believe Astro Boy, robotic detectives, and others all deserve to be treated equally as us humans.

One of the AIBO developers I met recently said to me, "My dream is to make a robot that can fall in love with a human." For people and robots to be able to get that close, I feel that first we humans need to rethink certain things and be challenged.

What a robot needs is... not power, but emotion!