Japan startup develops 'Gundam'-like robot with RM14.1mil price tag

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. - Reuters

YOKOHAMA, Japan (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 US$3 million (RM14.1 million).

Called ARCHAX after the avian dinosaur archaeopteryx, the robot has cockpit monitors that receive images from cameras hooked up to the exterior so that the pilot can manoeuvre the arms and hands with joysticks from inside its torso.