The Japanese company Tsubame Industries introduced its first product: ARCAX, on September 27, 2023. The robot is small — about 15ft (4.5m) and weighs 3.5T, but can be controlled by a human through a door that opens and closes leading to its body. From there, ARCHAX moves according to instructions sent by the joystick, pedals, and touch panel. Its expected use cases are disaster relief operations and work on the moon. Watch the demo below:
Lupus Rex in Mobile Suit GTA IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS is about four times the size of ARCHAX, but Tsubame’s CTO, Akinori Ishii, clearly took inspiration from the series with the poster on the wall in his interview. As stated on their website, Tsubame Industries hopes that ARCHAX’s “boarding operation” model that allows control from its body will help foster “a feeling of solidarity with the robot.”
Enlarged poster of PD325 GTA Barbatos Lupus Rex
Fans who hoped to one day ride an ARCHAX could see their hopes dashed. Tsubame Industries’ mission statement reads: “ARCAX was created with the purpose of bringing to the world an experience long dreamed of by many people—actually riding and controlling large robots like you see in science fiction. concept, filled with elements from robotics, animation/gaming and cars that Japan prides itself on globally. The “ARCAX” we are releasing now aims to shape an entirely new pilot robot market, using the supercar and luxury private jet markets as the benchmark for our products . We predict the main customers will be wealthy people and plan to receive orders not only domestically but also internationally. We will make the dream of controlled robots a reality and bring this new value experience to the world.“
Source: Reuters, via CNN on X
Insert image: Mobile Suit GTA IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS © SOTSU・SUNRISE・MBS | Illustration: Arisawa Hiroshi, Finish Yamashiro Shusei, Design and Director: Ichikawa Yosuke
