You have exactly one guess as to where the Archax robot mech originates from. If you said anything other than ‘Japan’ then we’re sorely disappointed that you haven’t been keeping up with your mecha anime. But we’re also proud of you for that, so it balances out.
Of course Japan would be attempting to actually build a working mech. It’s not the first time that country has given it a shot but the Archax, the product of a startup called Tsubame Industries, is considerably more expensive than the Kuratas, which was on sale on Amazon.
Archax enemy
This 4.5-metre-tall robot vehicle is a more exclusive proposition, capable of a transformation from robot to vehicle mode. It’s also battery-powered, as opposed to diesel, which does, in some way, account for a) its monster price and b) its 3.5-ton weight. The manned robot’s arms and hands function, with manipulation handled via joysticks inside the cockpit.
It’s little more than a concept for the moment, but a few will be made. Five of them, as a matter of fact. The lucky (and presumably wealthy) owners will have to be okay with moving around rather slowly. In vehicle mode, the Archax is capable of a top speed of 10km/h. That’s hardly going to threaten national security unless you’re an anonymous henchman facing off against Austin Powers on a steamroller.
Tsubame Industries’ head, 25-year-old Ryo Yoshida, speaking to Reuters, said, “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.” The Archax robot mech will make an appearance at the Japan Mobility Show this month.
Yoshida hopes this is just the start of something that will see his creations being used for disaster recovery or in the space industry. Actually, having this functional in orbit with a set of jets along the lines of NASA’s Manned Maneuvering Unit would be pretty awesome. It’d probably move faster, too.