[1/5] CEO Ryo Yoshida poses for a photograph with ARCHAX, a giant human-piloted robot developed by his start-up Tsubame Industries Co., in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan September 27, 2023.
REUTERS/Issei Kato Acquire Licensing RightsYOKOHAMA, Japan, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Tokyo-based start-up Tsubame Industries has developed a 4.5-metre-tall (14.8-feet), four-wheeled robot that looks like "Mobile Suit Gundam" from the wildly popular Japanese animation series, and it can be yours for $3 million.
The 3.5-ton robot, which will be unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show later this month, has two modes: the upright 'robot mode' and a 'vehicle mode' in which it can travel up to 10 km (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.
Yoshida plans to build and sell five of the machines for the well-heeled robot fan, but hopes the robot could one day be used for disaster relief or in the space industry.
Persons:
Ryo Yoshida, Issei Kato, Yoshida, Satoshi Sugiyama, Chris Gallagher, Miyu Ito, Chang, Ran Kim
Organizations:
Tsubame Industries, REUTERS, Rights, Japan Mobility, Thomson
Locations:
Yokohama, Tokyo, Japan, Rights YOKOHAMA