Tokyo Start-up Unveils $3 Million ‘Mobile Suit Gundam’ Robot
Imagine piloting your very own 14.8-feet tall robot straight out of a popular Japanese animation series for just $3 million. Tokyo-based start-up Tsubame Industries has turned this dream into reality with their latest creation – ARCHAX.
ARCHAX, named after the ancient avian dinosaur archaeopteryx, is a four-wheeled robot resembling “Mobile Suit Gundam.” The robot’s cockpit features monitors that receive live camera feed from exterior cameras, enabling the pilot to control its arms and hands using joysticks from inside its torso.
Weighing in at 3.5 tons, ARCHAX offers two exciting modes. In its ‘robot mode,’ it stands upright, towering over everything, while in ‘vehicle mode,’ it can speed along at up to 6 miles per hour.
Tsubame Industries’ 25-year-old CEO, Ryo Yoshida, shared his inspiration for ARCHAX: “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.”
ARCHAX will make its grand debut at the Japan Mobility Show later this month, targeting well-heeled robot enthusiasts. But Yoshida envisions a more significant role for ARCHAX in the future. He believes it could be utilized in disaster relief or even the space industry.
Yoshida’s journey into manufacturing started at an early age when he learned welding at his grandfather’s ironworks. Later, he founded a company producing myoelectric prosthetic hands. He is determined to keep Japan’s manufacturing legacy alive, saying, “I hope to learn from previous generations and carry on the tradition.”