Japanese company Tsubame Industries showcased its first product: the ARCHAX, on September 27, 2023. The robot measures on the small side — around 15ft (4.5m) and weighs 3.5T, but is pilotable by a human through an opening and closing hatch leading to its torso. From there, ARCHAX moves according to instructions sent by joysticks, pedals, and touch panels. Its expected use cases are disaster relief operations and working on the moon. Watch the demo below:
Lupus Rex from Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS is around four times as large as ARCHAX, but Tsubame’s CTO, Akinori Ishii, clearly draws inspiration from the series given the poster on his wall during his interview. As stated on their website, Tsubame Industries hopes that the “boarding-operation” model of ARCHAX which enables piloting from its torso will help foster a “sense of unity with the robot.”
Fans hoping to one day pilot the ARCHAX may find their hopes dashed. A mission statement from Tsubame Industries reads: “ARCHAX was created with the purpose of delivering to the world the long-held dream experience of many – actually riding and controlling large robots as you see in sci-fi, packed with elements from robotics, animation/gaming, and automobiles that Japan prides itself on globally. The “ARCHAX” we are releasing now aims to form an entirely new piloted robot market, using the luxury market of supercars and private jets as a benchmark for our products. We anticipate the main customers will be the wealthy, and plan to take orders not just domestically but internationally as well. We will make the dream of piloted robots a reality and deliver this new value experience to the world.“
Source: Reuters, via CNN on X
Insert image: Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS © SOTSU・SUNRISE・MBS | Illustration: Arisawa Hiroshi, Finish Yamashiro Shusei, Design and Director: Ichikawa Yosuke
