This $3 million robot may just make your 'Gundam' dreams come true
Animé fans looking to live out a childhood dream may finally be able to do so - if they happen to have $3 million (P170,234,996 based on current exchange rates) lying around.
Reuters reports that Tsubame Industries, a Japanese start-up based in Tokyo, has come up with the ARCHAX, a 4.5-meter-tall (14.8 feet) four-wheeled robot that may just end up being the start of an actual Mobile Suit Gundam robot.
ARCHAX, which takes its name from the avian dinosaur archaeopteryx, allows users to maneuver the robot's arms and hands with joysticks from inside the torso. The robot also has cameras on its exteriors that send images to monitors located in its cockpit.
The ARCHAX weighs 3.5 tons and has an upright “robot mode” and a “vehicle mode” that can travel up to 10 kilometers or six miles per hour. Interested buyers will get to see the ARCHAX for the first time at the Japan Mobility Show set to be held this month.
Tsubame Industries 25-year-old chief executive, Ryo Yoshida, says the company plans to build a total of five machines and sell it to interested buyers. The company also hopes that the robots are used in the future for disaster relief or for use in space.
This is the most recent occasion of an animé classic being mentioned in the news. Just last month, the Vincent Van Gogh museum launched a partnership with the Pokémon media franchise.
The official Van Gogh Museum X account announced the collaboration, which began on September 29 and will run until January 7 next year. The collaboration is part of the museum's 50th anniversary and is a recognition of the inspiration Japanese prints provided Van Gogh.
Exciting news! 🎁 Our collaboration with @Pokémon starts tomorrow and runs until 7 Jan 2024. Come and visit the presentation or complete the art-hunt to receive a Pokémon TCG promo card 🕵️♂️🕵️♀️ (subject to availability). See you soon? pic.twitter.com/YD5CxahXq2
-- Van Gogh Museum (@vangoghmuseum) September 27, 2023
Pokémon was also one of the big news stories last year,after Ash Ketchum, the hero of multiple Pokémon animated series, finally won the Pokémon World Championship). Ash was first introduced back in 1997.
He's done it! Ash has become a World Champion! 🏆🎉 pic.twitter.com/a2jPb8pym3
-- Pokémon (@Pokemon) November 11, 2022
