Japanese Engineers are building a giant robot based on a character from the Japanese anime TV series ‘Gundam’ created by Yoshiyuki Tomino.
The robot creation is part of the Global Gundam Challenge, launched in 2014, whereby teams compete to create Gundam based robots alongside other Gundam based projects. Standing at 60 feet tall the robot will weigh 25 tons and is based on the RX-78-2 Gundam, a leading character on the show who first appeared in 1979. But this is no simple model or statue! The Gundam life-sized robot will be able to move its feet and hands and even be able to walk around (though it is not likely to feature the laser sword carried in the series).
Masaki Kawahara, who is part of the team building the Gundam, has built these huge robots before, and has personally been involved in the building of 4. However, none of these has had the ability to move in the way this new creation will be able to. In a video (which can be seen below), the team demonstrates the structural and technological process of bringing a fictional TV show into reality and the ingenious methods used to overcome obstacles, in effect bring the future into the present.
In one episode, Gundam series creator Yoshiyuki Tomino visits designer Masaki Kawahara to see the current work on the head and torso of the project. Yoshiyuki criticizes the model, stating, “it’s boring. It rubs me the wrong way … It’s just not interesting … It feels like they’re going backwards, trying to reproduce a 40-year-old original.”
We hope he will have a different view when he sees the finished project and after all that work and expense! This current robot is expected to be completed sometime in late 2020 (though this may be held up by the current coronavirus crisis).
While Gundam may be unknown to many viewers in Europe and the United States, it has served as an inspiration to shows such as Transformers and films such as Pacific Rim and as of 2020 it is the 14th highest-grossing media franchise of all time, according to New Atlas. Which truly is an astounding feat!
You can watch the video here:
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