[imagesource: Bonnie Burton/CNET]

The robots that have been making headlines over the past few years can be divided into three categories:

Creepy AI that tries to look human, functional autonomous factory floor robots, and my least favourite of the bunch, the Boston Dynamics ‘dogs’ that scuttle around in a way that’s a little too energetic for my liking.

If you need a workable example of the last one, head here to watch them stalk herd sheep.

Then there’s the giant Gundam robot in Japan, that looks like something out of an episode of Power Rangers.

According to the Guardian, it stands just over 18 metres tall and weighs 25 tonnes.

Although the Power Rangers aesthetic resemblance is definitely there, it was actually modelled on an anime called Mobile Suit Gundam.

Take in the opening theme to get an idea of what we’re dealing with here:

In other words, this was a passion project, not an attempt to replace humanity with something terrifying, which makes it really charming.

This week, it was put through its paces for the first time in its new home in the port city of Yokohama.

Watch it make its first moves:

Here’s the full motion test which shows it taking a step before taking a knee:

Very cool. Seven-year-old me, who wanted nothing more in the world than a giant robot, is seriously happy right now.

The robot was supposed to be proudly displayed as the centrepiece of Gundam Factory Yokohama, south of Tokyo, from October 1, but COVID-19 got in the way of those plans.

“This decision was made to ensure the health and safety of our fans and employees in response to the worldwide spread of Covid-19,” it said in a statement.

“We apologise to all of our fans who were looking forward to our grand opening and ask for your understanding. In the meantime, we will be making preparations so that all of our visitors can enjoy themselves in safety.”

The Gundam franchise includes films, manga, plastic models, video games, and of course, a giant robot.

I’m keen to see the next phase of the project.

[source:guardian]