Tokyo-based start-up Tsubame Industries has developed a 4.5-metre-tall (14.8-feet), four-wheeled robot that looks like "Mobile Suit Gundam" from the wildly popular Japanese animation series, and it can be yours for $3 million.
Legs because that’s what a gundam has and literally no other reason. This way the creator can pretend he’s made a robot suit.
Wheels because mechanical legs that imitate human movement are wildly impractical and fragile. Humanoid robots are basically pointless, a lot of mechanical complexity with no practical benefit.
Well yes, but it seems a giant robot battlesuit is already pretty impractical, and the one big selling point is that it’s a giant robot battlesuit, and not a puppet on wheels for three million.
I haven’t seen that much Gundam, but I think most/all Gundam have wheels in addition to legs. I guess it’s the best of both worlds. Wheels are best for even terrain, and legs enable traversal of uneven terrain and jumping. In fiction of course. In real life, we can’t build anything that complicated.
Why make it legged and then make it move on wheels? Doesn’t seem very robotic or futuristic to me. Just a fancy car with a gundam aesthetic
Legs because that’s what a gundam has and literally no other reason. This way the creator can pretend he’s made a robot suit.
Wheels because mechanical legs that imitate human movement are wildly impractical and fragile. Humanoid robots are basically pointless, a lot of mechanical complexity with no practical benefit.
Well yes, but it seems a giant robot battlesuit is already pretty impractical, and the one big selling point is that it’s a giant robot battlesuit, and not a puppet on wheels for three million.
I haven’t seen that much Gundam, but I think most/all Gundam have wheels in addition to legs. I guess it’s the best of both worlds. Wheels are best for even terrain, and legs enable traversal of uneven terrain and jumping. In fiction of course. In real life, we can’t build anything that complicated.