A NEW generation of giant shape-shifting robots designed to work on building sites and disaster zones have been unveiled in Japan.
The Transformer-style bots, dubbed the Archax, can grow to nearly three times the height of a man on their four-wheeled legs.
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Designed by Tsubame Industries in Tokyo, the machines can also change into different shapes to suit any situation.
The battery-powered bots come with a pair of grabber arms on the side and are controlled by a human pilot sitting inside the machine’s body.
According to Japanese media, the machines will also have a movable head (left and right), waist (left and right), shoulders (up and down), elbows, wrists, and fingers.
It’s also stated that they seem to be inspired by the four-wheeled robot that looks like Mobile Suit Gundam from the wildly popular Japanese animation series.
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Designers say that each machine weighs 3.5 tonnes (551 stone) and stands 4.5 metres (14.7 feet) high in robot mode.
It can then shrink to 3.9 metres (12.7 feet) tall when in vehicle mode, with operators use gaming-style joysticks and foot pedals.
Named after the avian dinosaur archaeopteryx, the Archax will be showcased at the high-tech Japan Mobility Show on October 26.
The bot is the brainchild of Tsubame president Yoshida Ryo, 25, who studied robotic hand designs at university.
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He plans to build and sell five of the machines for the well-heeled robot fan, priced at JPY 400 million (£2.1million) each.
“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,” he said, as per Reuters.
“I wanted to create something that says, ‘This is Japan’.”
However, Yoshida hopes the robots could one day be used for disaster relief or in the space industry.
It has nine cameras that capture live images that can be transmitted to the cockpit’s four monitors for the operator.
Fibre-reinforced plastics were used for the robot’s exterior, and an ironworks company built the machine’s frame.
Within its iron/aluminium alloy framework, the Archax offers 26 points of articulation, with body panels crafted from FRP and ASA plastic.
Tsubame released a third-person “dynamic viewing” teaser reveal for the Archax via their YouTube channel in August.
Elsewhere, Amazon have manufactured an army of shelf stacking robots who will “work collaboratively with people”.
At just under 6ft tall, the creepy workers have long legs and knee joints that face the wrong way, making for a menacing sight.
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Earlier this year, scientists revealed plans to send a robot snake to search for life on one of Saturn’s moons.
Researchers revealed the elongated robot would slither along otherworldly terrains via spinning wheels along its body.
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