Big in Japan: giant Gundam robot makes its first moves in Yokohama

[JollyGood]

As per the Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/23/giant-gundam-robot-japan-makes-its-first-moves-in-yokohama

The life-size Japanese Gundam robot stands just over 18 metres tall and weighs 25 tonnes. Do you think this is just vanity project or do you think this is far more than that because it is part of a multi-billion USD$ and even though the project started 6 years ago fans need a boost because of the deflation they feel as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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[Ucy]

Interesting. But I wonder if it is seen as god or something, considering the part about "priest purification of its soon-to-be-installed head"
I assume they build this to showcase the limited things their robot can do, or does it have very useful/good purposes?

[meanwords]

I think it's not in vain but a breakthrough in computer science and engineering. This might serve as a model for future endeavors for computer scientist and engineers as Japan has always been surprising us with their development in robotics (Look at this https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/robots/). Who knows, we might see giant robots roaming the city in 20-50 years in the future lol.

[amishmanish]

Trust the Japanese to make things weird. They are also probably the only ones flawless enough to attempt a real life version of "Pacific Rim" someday. The breakthrough in this case, as the article describes, is ensuring the structural integrity of the various parts with their weight, vertical height and a movable centre of gravity. Anything tall and heavy will always want to touch the ground unless its a rigid structure.

[JollyGood]

Definitely not seen as God like for them but maybe in part a showcase of their skills in technological advances.

Interesting. But I wonder if it is seen as god or something, considering the part about "priest purification of its soon-to-be-installed head"
I assume they build this to showcase the limited things their robot can do, or does it have very useful/good purposes?

[Nellayar]

Gundam: One of my favourite anime in Television when I was a child. I just can`t how Japan made a real-life size robot. It just shows how Japanese love anime and they really utilize their technology. Despite of having a pandemic, they still can create this one. Anyway, Japan already proved to the world that they are advanced in technology and they can create robots which I think in future would become AI robots. Let just think that the anime before can be now in reality. That is really tall and awesome.

Trust the Japanese to make things weird.

They are weird yet they are also inventors.

[Lorence.xD]

I think it's not in vain but a breakthrough in computer science and engineering. This might serve as a model for future endeavors for computer scientist and engineers as Japan has always been surprising us with their development in robotics (Look at this https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/robots/). Who knows, we might see giant robots roaming the city in 20-50 years in the future lol.

The problem that I can see with this is that if it allows full movement then it will be difficult because there is square cube law, the law states that as objects get bigger in size, the volume grows faster than its surface area. This means that a complete motion for the machine (walking, running etc) will affect itself, think how they make skyscrapers. Physics can be a dick but the Gundam will collapse on its own weight if they did not consider square cube law.

[Darkelf11]

I won't considering it as a vanity project. And I won't believe that Japan will do such big project for nothing. This will benefit them in the long run. I view it as Japan's way to attract even more tourist that will boost their economy in the later time. It's not worthless, and I do think that they should really be proud about this one. 

Honestly, I thought this gigantic Gundam is only an statue, I never thought it was a robot.

[Broly46]

How many even watch the anime and deeply understand the story.
So it’s said the population will be wipe out by halves because federal government sparking war with the rebellious.
Many people will die all begin with the project gundam. Btw who’s the pilot for the gundam?

[dothebeats]

This is just Japan doing Japanese things. This isn’t just for show, this is them subtly flaunting their prowess in robotics and engineering that they had been at the top of after WW2. Imagine building a huge robot straight out of an anime show and it ‘functions’ though not as fully as its anime counterpart. What more if they added lots of functionality to it? But then again this is mainly just for tourist attraction. It’ll still generate money over time so it’s still a good investment, I’d say.

[posi]

The life-size Japanese Gundam robot stands just over 18 metres tall and weighs 25 tonnes. Do you think this is just vanity project or do you think this is far more than that because it is part of a multi-billion USD$ and even though the project started 6 years ago fans need a boost because of the deflation they feel as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Create a project from an anime to reality is definitely not a vanity project cause no would just waste a billion dollars project just like that but it was created for the enthusiast of the Gundom which I believe the message the teams posted when the giant gundom make his first move proof it.

does it have very useful/good purposes?

I believe it will serve as the company mascot and tourists center for people around the world and the enthusiast of the Gundom anime.

[Ucy]

Interesting. But I wonder if it is seen as god or something, considering the part about "priest purification of its soon-to-be-installed head"
I assume they build this to showcase the limited things their robot can do, or does it have very useful/good purposes?

Definitely not seen as god like for them but maybe in part a showcase of their skills in technological advances.

Ofcourse. But I think such humanoid robot could be worshipped as gods by the ignorant and deceived, if they exhibit "superior behaviors"

Anyway robot with artificial intelligence could be hacked into, hijacked by evil entity who prefer "beings" without conscience/emotion/soul, caused to behave badly due to human error,  etc.
So people really need to be careful with their technology advances in the area autonomous mechanics/machines.
I'd prefer robots operated by good decentralized communities of humans rather than independent AI

[Coyster]

So people really need to be careful with their technology advances in the area autonomous mechanics/machines.

Imo, there's no reason to be paranoid about technological advancements/artificial intelligence, in a few decades from now, products from advancement in tech will become part of our daily lives. That being said, it's also a source of income/economic enrichment, for example the said robot in the op is set to be launched in the opening of the "Gundam factory Yokohama" and that's going to allure tourists from around the world, mainly to see this robot, the engineers who worked on it, would not spend six years doing that, if it wasn't worth it.

Anyway robot with artificial intelligence could be hacked into, hijacked by evil entity who prefer "beings" without conscience/emotion/soul, caused to behave badly due to human error,  etc.

Don't worry, what happened in the movie "Chucky" doesn't happen in real life .

[wxa7115]

As per the Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/23/giant-gundam-robot-japan-makes-its-first-moves-in-yokohama




The life-size Japanese Gundam robot stands just over 18 metres tall and weighs 25 tonnes. Do you think this is just vanity project or do you think this is far more than that because it is part of a multi-billion USD$ and even though the project started 6 years ago fans need a boost because of the deflation they feel as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I can understand why some may think this is a vanity project since they cannot see the utility in the short term for something like that, however technological breakthroughs do not happen overnight, most of the time it is a combination of factors, and if we are to ever create functional machines like this in the future then we need to start somewhere and if the interest in an Anime is enough to fuel this then we must be glad.

And even if we are never able to create something like this many things will be learned from this experience and engineers will learn what they can actually do, for example maybe robots of that size are not possible but they could build one half its size, or maybe they find out that humanoid robots are not the best and another shape is necessary to get top performance.

[Twentyonepaylots]

I don't think that there is vanity with this one, I guess this is just right, making the robot that also gave them a multi-billion income. The only thing that is wrong is the timing, but if you are searching enough, you'll know that it started a few years back so making an excuse of insensitivity here just because we are struggling with pandemic is absurd. This is what we get when we enhances our engineering skills. Kudos to Japan.

[JollyGood]

They are showcasing their skills no doubt about that. In the video you can see the robot moving, evening going down on one knee. At just over 18 metres tall and weighing 25 tonnes it really is a mechanical colossus. The team behind it have to be proud of their efforts.

I think it's not in vain but a breakthrough in computer science and engineering. This might serve as a model for future endeavors for computer scientist and engineers as Japan has always been surprising us with their development in robotics (Look at this https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/robots/). Who knows, we might see giant robots roaming the city in 20-50 years in the future lol.

[TravelMug]

The life-size Japanese Gundam robot stands just over 18 metres tall and weighs 25 tonnes. Do you think this is just vanity project or do you think this is far more than that because it is part of a multi-billion USD$ and even though the project started 6 years ago fans need a boost because of the deflation they feel as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I guess regardless of the COVID-29 pandemic, it is bound to happen for the Japanese to complete this project and show their supremacy as far as robot goes. Who would forget ASIMO?

And it really sending a subliminal message to the world that they are still leading as far as robots + AI goes. Yeah, the team should be very proud of it and this is already will be etch on the history of Japanese anime as well. Would like to see Voltes-V next though,   because that's my generation of robot.

[scottmdm]

  Awesome Robot

[Salauddin1994]

This is surprising but robots are very helpful in japan's development and economic development japan will go a long way in terms of rapid growth of work and technology it actually brought to the fore an ongoing agricultural revolution in japan. The fields are now being transformed into a single technology center through the use of artificial intelligence the internet and the latest technology.

[Dave1]

Damn, I'm really impressive how far advance the Japanese technology sector, the movement is fluid and it's like a full move scene from Transformers. This is another step, and for sure Japan has been developing far more superior robots for the future.