DHAKA: It walks and runs, even up and down stairs. It can open a bottle and serve a drink, and politely tries to shake hands with a stranger.

Meet the latest Asimo, Honda’s humanoid robot.

‘Hello New York! Thank you for coming today!’ the little guy chirped in English, the recorded voice of a teenaged boy, at his United States debut on Wednesday in a Manhattan hotel.

Resembling a tiny astronaut, Asimo, decked out in a white suit and helmet, stands 1.3m tall and weighs in at 50kg.

Asimo, short for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility, was designed to help people, potentially in cases of reduced mobility.

The first model was unveiled in 2000 after 14 years of research during which scientists studied human movements in an effort to replicate them, The Straits Times publishes this report on Thursday.

BDST: 1458 HRS, APR 17, 2014