The Honda E2-DR (Experimental robot 2 — Disaster Response) is a disaster-response humanoid robot prototype that Honda unveiled at the IROS 2017 robotics conference, having first described the project in a 2015 research paper. Distinct from ASIMO's friendly, demonstration-oriented design, the bright-orange E2-DR was built for a grim purpose: standing in for human responders in dangerous environments such as damaged industrial plants or nuclear-disaster sites, where it would inspect, maintain, and assist in conditions too hazardous for people.
Availability
The E2-DR was an experimental research prototype, never commercialized. Honda stated that the prototype, while capable, needed considerably more development to become practically useful, and did not announce a release date or a product. There is no price or purchasing path.
Full Specifications
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Unveiled | IROS 2017 (project first described in a 2015 paper) |
| Height | ~1.68 m |
| Weight | ~85 kg |
| Degrees of freedom | 33 total (8 per arm, 6 per leg, 2 torso, 1 each for hands and head) |
| Body thickness | ~25 cm — can squeeze through ~30 cm gaps |
| Battery | ~1,000 Wh lithium-ion; ~90 minutes operation |
| Walking speed | ~2 km/h |
| Wiring | Optical-fiber cables (~0.5 mm) instead of bulkier conventional cables, to save size and weight |
| Environmental tolerance | Withstands ~20 minutes of rain; operates from ~-10 °C to 40 °C; labyrinth joint structures resist dust and water |
| Sensing | Head with laser rangefinders, monocular and stereo cameras, IR light projector; cameras and a 3D camera in each hand |
| Mobility | Walks, climbs stairs and vertical ladders, crawls, traverses debris, passes through doors; rotates torso 180° to reverse knee direction for steep stairs |
Significance
The E2-DR represented Honda's most serious public step into rugged, real-world humanoid robotics — a sharp contrast to ASIMO's controlled demonstrations. Its requirement list (ladders, debris, narrow gaps, doors, fall prevention on heights) directly reflected lessons from events like the Fukushima nuclear disaster and from the DARPA Robotics Challenge. The 180°-torso-rotation trick for stairs notably echoed the approach used by the DARPA-winning DRC-HUBO. As a prototype, it remains a research milestone rather than a deployed system.
E2-DR vs Related Robots
- E2-DR vs Honda ASIMO: Opposite design philosophies — ASIMO was a friendly demonstration robot; the E2-DR was a rugged, waterproof disaster machine.
- E2-DR vs DRC-HUBO: Both are disaster-response humanoids; both use torso rotation to handle steep stairs. DRC-HUBO won the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge.
- E2-DR vs Kawasaki Kaleido: Both are Japanese disaster-capable humanoids — Kawasaki has continued developing Kaleido through many generations, while Honda did not commercialize the E2-DR.
Source: Honda
