Honda Innovation
ASIMO
Advanced Step in Innovative MObility
With the goal of assisting people with limited mobility, Honda scientists and engineers spent two decades developing a robot that would become ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility).
Today, ASIMO is the world's most advanced humanoid robot with the ability to walk, run, climb stairs and carry objects. ASIMO can even respond to voice commands and recognize faces. In the future, Honda hopes that ASIMO will be able to assist people with limited mobility or perform tasks dangerous to humans.
Marine Engines
For over 40 years, Honda has been selling 4-stroke outboard engines in North America.
Clean, quiet, and fuel-efficient, they incorporate advanced technologies from our racing heritage to maximize power output and reliability. And all Honda outboards carry the coveted 2008 Ultra-low Emissions designation of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and meet or exceed the stringent 2006 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards.
Honda Jet
Revolutionary Honda Jet
HondaJet was borne of the power of dreams - power that drove our innovations in aircraft design from thought to drawing board to flight in just seven years.
Taking the next-generation Honda engineering to new heights, the HondaJet features patented engine over wing design and offers increased fuel efficiency, more interior space, and higher cruising speeds than existing business aircraft.
Living up to Honda's reputation for superior fuel efficiency, the HondaJet delivers 30-35 percent better cruising fuel efficiency than comparable jets, along with a class-topping cruise speed of 420 knots (450 mph), and a more spacious cabin with room for up to eight people. Production of HondaJet is scheduled to begin in the U.S. in 2010.
Safety for Everyone
Honda's commitment to safety.
At Honda, we believe you deserve advanced levels of safety regardless of the price or size of the vehicle that meets your needs. We call this approach Safety for Everyone.
Through technology and innovation we are developing increased levels of protection for everyone who enjoys Honda's products, while also making an active commitment to enhancing safety for the drivers and occupants of other vehicles, and even pedestrians. As a leader, Honda looks beyond industry and government requirements, and focuses on future innovation to invent safer ways for people to drive or ride today people. Production of HondaJet is scheduled to begin in the U.S. in 2010.
Airbag System
Six standard airbags
Almost all Honda's vehicles feature six airbags, including the revolutionary passenger-side Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS) airbag that will not deploy if the system detects a smaller sized or out of position occupant.
The Honda-developed Side Curtain Airbag is the world's fastest deploying side curtain system. Working in conjunction with the front side airbags, it provides improved protection in side impact collisions. Side Curtain Airbags provide added protection in side impacts or in the event of a rollover. The system employs a sensor to trigger airbag deployment in the event of a rollover.
Safety for Everyone
In keeping with the Safety for Everyone commitment, it is not enough to be concerned only with people inside our vehicles, we must consider pedestrians.
In the pursuit of next-generation safety innovations that help reduce life-threatening injuries, Honda developed the most advanced pedestrian dummy in the world, POLAR II. With unique human-like joint structures, instruments in POLAR II measure the level of injury in eight regions, including the head, neck, chest, abdomen and legs to help Honda better understand the real world dynamics of pedestrian incidents. In fact, a wide range of Honda and Acura models incorporate the latest in pedestrian-friendly body design, including specially designed hood structures, hood hinges, front frame construction and breakaway wiper pivots.
Walk Assist
Walking assist device with Stride Management System
Most people think of Honda as an automobile company. But our main focus is and always has been human mobility. And innovation is our engine.
Honda has two walking assist prototypes that are currently being tested, our Stride Management Assist device and our Bodyweight Support Assist device.
Stride Management AssistWhen walking is a struggle, you need a leg up. And that's literally what Honda's prototype Stride Management Assist device is designed to provide. A motor helps lift each leg at the thigh as it moves forward and backward. This helps lengthen the user's stride, making it easier to cover longer distances at a greater speed. A lightweight, simple design with a belt worn around the hips and thighs was created to reduce the wearer's load and to fit different body shapes.
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Bodyweight Support AssistImagine how much easier it would be to perform a physically demanding activity with a "lighter" body. That's the effect achieved by the prototype Bodyweight Support Assist being developed and tested by Honda. Honda's second experimental walking assist device helps support bodyweight to reduce the load on the user's legs while walking, going up and down stairs, and in a semi-crouching position. This could lead to reduced fatigue and less physical exertion.
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More than 130 patents have been applied for pertaining to the walking assist devices, which are currently being tested in real-world conditions to evaluate their effectiveness. Eventually, other applications may be found for such a device, including everyday activities such as sightseeing.
As a company that values mobility, Honda began research into a walking device in 1999. The cumulative study of human walking, along with research and development of technologies conducted for Honda's advanced humanoid robot, ASIMO, made these developments possible.
Racing Heritage
50 Years of World Championship Racing
Honda's Motorsport Challenge,
Which Began With The Isle of Man TT Race Declaration
"My childhood dream was to be a motorsport World Champion with a machine built by myself. However, before this dream could be achieved, it was obvious that a stable enterprise with the finest precision equipment, and an excellent level of in-house design was needed. These three requirements prompted me to market a utility machine to give us the necessary foundation on which to build, and it's ironic that the time spent on this side of the business has kept me away from racing. From results witnessed at the San Paulo races, and looking calmly at what is happening in other areas of the globe, we now know what is needed to compete with the Western world. Progress has been rapid, it has to be said, but I am still convinced that by following my long-standing concepts, we can win on the tracks, and I will not rest until we do. Everything is in place, and the time has come to challenge the West. I hereby avow my definite intention to participate in the TT races, and I proclaim with my fellow employees that I will pour in all of my energy and creative powers to win."
This is a shortened version of the message Soichiro Honda, then President of Honda, sent out to his workers on 20 March 1954. At that time, a victory in the World GP series was unimaginable for the majority of Japanese, but Honda did not flinch. He had set himself this noble target, and by issuing the written declaration, allowed his enthusiastic staff to become part of his long-held dream.