A company in Japan is prepping to send a robot inspired by the Gundam anime into space. It’s slightly less awesome than it sounds, however. There’s no giant mech suit bound for orbit. Instead, it’s based on the Haro assistant robot that has featured in the series.
Having Haro on a rocket makes more sense. Even the F90 Gundam F90 stands (canonically) just under fifteen metres tall. It’s a little difficult to get one of those on board the International Space Station, which is where Haro is headed.
Gundam pilot project
Haro, as a project, was crowdfunded by Space Entry Co., which last month raised enough to send its circular bot into space. The little critter was designed by Kunio Okawara. Okawara created the original Haro design for the TV series back in 1979. This one’s a little different, though.
It’s supposed to be a true assistant bot, able to navigate microgravity on its own. An internal propeller system gives it a 360° range of movement in space, with sensors helping the aluminium critter to avoid collisions. An internal camera and microphone array let the Gundam-inspired bot communicate with astronauts.
Haro is bound for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo module on the ISS on a future launch. Exactly when hasn’t been revealed, but it’ll be from December 2026 to February 2027. After that, it should spend some time there, talking to folks on the ground and simulating interactions with astronauts. Haro might not be the RX-0 Unicorn, but it’s still pretty awesome.
