During my childhood and teen years, the idea of giant robots appealed to me but I was never a huge fan of Transformers or the Gundam series. I was much more interested in imagining what it would be like and less into watching it on cartoons on television. Heck, I still sometimes day dream about my Datsun 260Z being a closet-transfomer who is not yet ready to reveal itself to the world. There is some good news for all of the Transformers fans out there thanks to a collaboration between Brave Robotics, Asratec Corp, and original Transformer creator Tomy Co. Ltd.
The trio have joined forces to build J-deite Quarter, a one-quarter-scale autobot which starts off as a humanoid, bipedal robot and transforms itself into an approximately three foot long sports car. Not large enough for grownups but it’s a good start.
J-deite Quarter Transformer In Action
The J-deite Quarter is a work in progress and full-size model is scheduled to be completed by the year 2020. The current model is 1.3 meters (4.3ft) tall but the final model will eventually be five meters (16.4ft) high). The short-term goal is to create and complete a half-scale model at 2.5 meters (8.2ft) tall sometime in 2016.
The current 77lb model was unveiled at the annual Digital Content Expo in Tokyo last week. The robot is capable of walking on two legs at a speed of 1km/h (0.62mph), but when it transforms into ‘car mode’, it can reach speeds as high as 10 km/h (6.2mph). That’s hardly fast enough to make any sort of an escape but I’m sure these numbers will change in due time.
The robot can move its head, lift its arms, awkwardly walk, and of course change into car mode in matter of seconds. The entire setup is powered by ‘V-Sido OS’, a software created by Wataru Yoshizaki, which allows anyone to control humanoid robots.
There are no current plans to release the J-deite Quarter to the public but I’m certain Transformer fans will look forward to the finished model. Even Gundam fans will appreciate the J-deite.
[Via: J-deite]
