The Tsubame Archax is currently a big toy for the super-rich, but its goals are even higher - lunar exploration. And robot battles too.
The multi-million dollar supercar business is booming. The world's super-rich have dozens of outrageously expensive, high-performance toys to choose from, like the Rimac Nevera or the Mercedes-AMG Project One. Some supercars aren't even street legal.
But what does a tech billionaire who is more passionate about anime than racing need to think?
Tsubame Archax might be the answer. Simply put, it's a Gundam fan's dream come true: a 4.5-meter-tall, $3 million mecha that functions exactly like the real thing—save for a few nitty-gritty details like thrusters, laser swords, and neural interfaces explored in multiple timelines.
Made in Japan
The first product from Yokohama-based Tsubame, the Archax is the result of four years of research and development. And the results are surprising. Inside the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition hall, a huge space by any standard, the Archax stands out from the other supercars and concept cars. Every hour or so, Tsubame staff put it through a simple demo, in which it raises its arms, waves to the crowd, and transforms from Robot mode to Vehicle mode and back again.
Yes, the Archax is a Transformer. Like the Autobots, it can roll, but you wouldn't mistake it for a VW Beetle or a Kenworth K100. Here, it's more like a transformation between two versions of the same theme.
A four-legged machine with wheels
The Archax has four legs, but it doesn't walk on them. Under each leg is a Yokohama industrial tire, the kind you'd find on a forklift, each powered by an electric motor. In Vehicle mode, the Archax's four legs are spread out, lowering its center of gravity and allowing it to reach a top speed of around 6 mph.
But to impress your friends or scare the neighbors, switch to Robot mode, and it will fly up to a maximum height of 15 feet (about 4.5 meters).
The transformation is fairly simple by Optimus Prime standards, but it's still a sight to see—and hear. Countless electric motors throughout the chassis work together to lift the 3.5-ton machine to its maximum height, a process that takes about 15 seconds.
Archax is like a Transformer
That's nothing compared to the drama of the cockpit opening mechanism. From the outside, the pilot needs to hold down a switch located on the lower left side of the Archax's chassis. Four separate hatches move in sync to open the single pilot's seat inside, a fluid motion that takes a lot of inspiration from Gundam robots.
In fact, everything is inspired by the Gundam series. Akinori Ishii, CTO of Tsubame, is the technical director at Gundam Global Challenge, the team responsible for building the full-scale RX-78F00 Gundam — also based in Yokohama.
Business objectives
The whole project was the brainchild of CEO Ryo Yoshida, who tweeted the first images of the Archax design. The initial focus was on hobbies and entertainment. But the company had bigger goals. After all five Archaxes sold out, Ishii wanted to learn from the 2014 Godzilla and put them to battle.
Tsubame wants to create a kind of robot fighting tournament, but not with giant machines fighting each other like Robot Jox.
" We want to fight using a few units. Not real combat, but virtual reality, so in reality using real robots, the fight will use virtual reality technology, like a game ," he said.
Imagine real robots swooping across a real battlefield, launching virtual missiles Itano Circus-style at each other.
But even that number pales in comparison to where Ishii wants the company to go: space, and more specifically, the Moon . Ishii worked as an engineer at Hitachi, a global manufacturer that sells hundreds of construction and earthmoving machines, many of which are optimized for specific tasks.
'On Earth, there are many specialized machines for special jobs.' 'On a lunar base, we cannot have that many machines. So perhaps a human-like machine would be used in such situations.' - Ishii shared.
Back to reality
It's a long way from the literal and figurative past, as the Archax of today can't really do much useful work. It can lift about 20 kilograms (44 pounds) by hand, but the behemoth isn't really suited to precision work. The basic controls are a pair of joysticks to control the arms, with a touchpad allowing the pilot to toggle individual functions like lights and modes.
A pair of pedals controlled the Archax's movements. The right pedal swung forward and backward to control forward and backward speed. The left pedal swung side to side and was used to rotate the machine.
The cockpit is completely enclosed, like a Gundam, with the pilot seeing the world through footage captured from 26 wide-angle cameras scattered around the machine. Those footages are then stitched together on a trio of screens surrounding the pilot.
Final controls: Big red emergency stop buttons, located not only inside the cockpit but also on the outside of the footrests. Safety is definitely a top priority for Ishii and the other members of Team Tsubame, all of whom wear helmets whenever the bike is in motion.
This super robot is currently on sale for $3 million and is very popular with the upper class.