Gundam Global Challenge Winners Proposed Plans to Make the Life-Size Statue Move in 2019

Gundam Global Challenge aims to make the 18-meter-tall RX-78-2 Gundam statue move on Tokyo's Odaiba island in the year 2019. This aims to make the giant robot walk from where it is erected.

Number of participants have submitted their ideas and proposals to the official website of Gundam Global Challenge to help the production move the RX-78-2 Gundam in 2019.

Yuya Kaneko of Nara Institute of Science and Technology proposed that they shall make a life-size Zaku II that would fight the RX-78-2 Gundam in gappuri-yotsu sumo wrestling pose, that could also help the two mobile suits move as a quadrupedal unit, and is much easier to control than a bipedal unit.

Ming-Hsun, a professor and engineer submitted an energy saver design for this project to create balanced legs that would make the Gundam walk without any problems. Also, ROBOFUTURE robotics engineer Yoshimitsu Kihara proposed a walking system with rotating podiums and assistance devices to keep the RX-78-2 Gundam from falling.

On the other hand, associate professor Kei Okada at University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Infomation Science and Technology proposes a software interface that would allow visitors to make the Gundam move themselves while enjoying the views of the attraction.

The proposals have been judged by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino, Waseda University vice president Shuji Hashimoto, Chukyo University dept. of mechanics and information professor Pitoy Hartono, film producer Katsuyuki Motohiro, and creative and technical director seiichi Satō.

Also, the Gundam Global Project will be accepting a second round of applications to expand the idea and to enforce the project's goal.

The final launching of the project will also mark the upcoming 40th anniversary of the first Mobile Suit Gundam anime series in Japan that aired in 1979.

SOURCE: ANIMENEWSNETWORK