Make way for ASIMO

On a recent episode of “The Simpsons,” Homer didn’t have the smarts to make a robot for Bart, so he dressed up as one and endured the pain of several robot battles. Real-life parents don’t have to go to such lengths. They can simply take the kids to the California Science Center in Exposition Park this weekend to catch a live demonstration of ASIMO, the world’s most advanced humanoid robot.

Short for “Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility,” ASIMO has been touring the country like a rock star for more than a year. The robot is capable of walking forward and backward, making smooth turns, standing on one leg, climbing stairs, and even getting jiggy with it. ASIMO is so lifelike that during a recent visit to the “Today” show, host Matt Lauer was convinced that there was a man inside the mechanical shell.

“Our current thinking and our main focus is that ASIMO is designed to help people,” says Jeffrey Smith, a project leader. “The first application will probably be for people in need, like people in a wheelchair or hospital bed, someone who can’t move around the house. ASIMO can do that movement for them. Someday it may be, ‘ASIMO get my medicine. ASIMO answer the door. ASIMO walk the dog.’ We’re not there yet, but we’ll be there.”

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ASIMO, California Science Center, Exposition Park, 700 State Drive, L.A. Saturday, 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Free; tickets distributed beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Info: (323) 724-3623 or www.californiasciencecenter.

org or www.asimo.honda.com.