Honda's Asimo robot is set to make its orchestral debut next month by attempting to conduct the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

The special performance will take place 13 May during which the robot will conduct Impossible Dream from Man of La Mancha.

Asimo will also present a Lifetime Achievement award to world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Honda has donated more than $1m to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for its music education fund, and is hoping that its robotic performance will spark interest in maths and science in young students.

Resembling a child in a white spacesuit, Asimo is part of a long term project aimed at providing assistance to the disabled and elderly in their homes.

Honda recently demonstrated the robot's athletic capabilities when it climbed up and down stairs and ran at up to four miles per hour at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.

Asimo also made headlines in February 2002 when it rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.