For $3 million, Tokyo-based start-up Tsubame Industries is selling a four-wheeled, 4.5-metre-tall (14.8-foot) robot that resembles “Mobile Suit Gundam” from the hugely famous Japanese animated series.
The robot, named ARCHAX after the bird-like dinosaur Archaeopteryx, includes cockpit displays that display views from cameras attached to the outside so that the pilot may control the arms and hands with joysticks from within its body.
The 3.5-ton robot has two modes: an upright “robot mode” and a “vehicle mode” in which it can move up to 10 kilometres (6 miles) per hour. It will be shown at the Japan Mobility Show later this month.
Ryo Yoshida, 25, is the chief executive of Tsubame Industries. “Japan is very good at animation, games, robots, and automobiles so I thought it would be great if I could create a product that compressed all these elements into one,” he said.
Yoshida aims to one day employ the robot for disaster assistance or in the space business, but for now, he plans to create and sell five of the devices to the wealthy robot aficionado.
Early on, Yoshida had a passion for manufacturing. He learned how to weld at his grandfather’s ironworks, and later founded a business that makes myoelectric prosthetic hands. He expressed his desire to preserve Japan’s manufacturing competitiveness.
