Automaker Honda doesn’t just make the Civic and motorcycles that used to be loads more popular than they are today — the company’s also known for exploring the worlds of robotics and… extreme lawnmowers? That’s… actually, that’s accurate. Huh.
But the company has announced a slight change of direction, in the same direction as loads of other automakers, including Toyota. Honda intends to invest in several up-and-coming technologies, including robotics (more heavily than previously), rockets, and eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft.
So we’re getting an E-Honda, then?
The Japanese company announced its intention to invest ¥5 trillion (around R680 billion) in its R&D arm over the next six years as part of its 2030 Vision initiative. The bulk of that investment seems destined for the same place everyone else is targeting — eVTOL aircraft, in a big effort to take a slice of that urban air mobility pie. The company has a fairly comprehensive strategy laid out for how it intends to eventually “…make mobility in the skies more accessible for people.”
But that’s not all — investment will be sent towards robotics research, with the aim of making something called the Honda Avatar Robot a thing by the mid-2030s. What’s that, you ask? As the company explains it, an avatar robot “…can act as a second self of the user, [so] that the user can perform tasks and experience things without being there in person, including the realistic sense of handling objects remotely.” Sounds pretty sweet, but it also sounds like we might need Will Smith to come and save humanity at some point as well. It’ll be a while till we get there, though. So far, Honda has the hand working.
And then there’s something a little more far-fetched: rocket development, specifically reusable rockets. The company intends to task “…young Honda engineers to research and develop a small, reusable rocket by applying Honda’s core technologies such as combustion, fluid, control and guidance technologies.” That’ll combine with joint research with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) into a renewable energy system and remote-controlled robots for lunar exploration — which is a rather lofty goal.
However, Honda hasn’t given any indication of how its investment will be split. It’s likely that the eVTOL project will receive the bulk of funds, with some leftover for robots and rockets. Once the company reveals just how it’ll all be divided, their future plans — over the next decade or two — will be much more clear. For now, though, it’s enough to know that Honda’s thinking at least as far as a moon colony.