Japan Unveils 15-Foot Gundam-Inspired Robot Suit for Disaster Relief, Space Exploration

Japan made another innovation that Gundam fans might love. Tokyo-based start-up Tsubame Industries just unveiled its 15-foot robot that looks like "Mobile Suit Gundam," a popular series in the country in the 1970s.

Japan Unveils New Robot Suit

Tsubame Industries has created a Gundam-inspired robot that is 4.5 meters (14.8 feet) tall and has four wheels. It costs $3 million and is available for purchase. The company named the robot ARCHAX after the avian dinosaur archaeoptery.

The 3.5-ton robot has cockpit monitors that receive images from cameras hooked up to the exterior so that the pilot can maneuver the arms and hands with joysticks from inside its torso. It also comes with two modes - upright "robot mode" and "vehicle mode," in which it can travel up to 10 kilometers (6 miles) per hour.

"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," said Ryo Yoshida, the 25-year-old chief executive of Tsubame Industries. "I wanted to create something that says, 'This is Japan.'" He noted that he wanted to "carry on the tradition."

Yoshida aims to employ the robot for disaster assistance or space exploration. However, he plans to create and sell five of the devices to the wealthy robot aficionado.

Yoshida developed a passion for manufacturing at a very young age. 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.

Wearable robotic arms have already been created in Japan. Users can operate six arms that are part of each device. The technology was created to foster innovation.

Masahiko Inami, a professor at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo, is in charge of the JIZAI Body project at ERATO, funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). The Inami team at the University of Tokyo has been developing wearable robotic arms based on the Japanese concept of jizai, which can be loosely translated as autonomy and the freedom to do as one pleases,

The goal is to encourage a relationship between performer and instrument akin to how a musical instrument may be somewhere between that of a human and that of a tool.

The Yasunari Kawabata short story about a guy who takes a young woman's arm and spends the night with it, as well as traditional Japanese puppetry, were the sources of inspiration for the Jizai Body Project.

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China's Most Powerful General-Purpose Robot Criticized

China is also making a mark in developing robots. In August, Chinese company Unitree Robotics unveiled its new H1 robot. The company dubbed it the "world's most powerful general-purpose humanoid."

It has a 360-degree panoramic perception, self-developed high-torque joint motors, and dexterity for force-controlled movements and operations. Unitree H1 weighs roughly 100 pounds (47 kg) and stands 180 centimeters (71 inches) tall. It moves along at 3.4 mph, nearly the same as the typical human. It also features a depth camera and LiDAR, a type of remote sensing that uses reflected light to create 3D models and maps of nearby objects.

However, several netizens found its design funny. Some claimed the humanoid looked like the character from "Terminator." Additionally, it reportedly appeared like it was looking for the nearest toilet.