Walking, kneeling or pointing by extending the index does not seem like great milestones in advance, although everything changes if the protagonist is a robot 18 meters high and 25 tons of weight.
What was until now the exclusive territory of the imagination has come true in the Japanese city of Yokohama.
There, the first mobile scale reproduction of the androids of a well-known national television series was inaugurated this week.
The fiction is called
Mobile Suit Gundam
, known in Spanish as
Primer Gundam
or
Gundam 0079
.
Released in the 1970s, it is set in a fantastic world and narrates the outbreak of war between the Federation of Earth and the Principality of Zeon, after the latter's unilateral declaration of independence.
The secessionists are powerful, but the earthlings have a secret weapon: the
gundams
, robots like the one that now stands over the Japanese town.
These machines, based in turn on the mechanical exoskeletons popularized by the science fiction novel
Space Troops
, by the American Robert A. Heinlein, are the main feature of this series that has a huge number of followers spread all over the planet - the real Earth.
Mobile Suit Gundam
has never been broadcast in Spain, but on the Internet you can find communities that have translated the series into Spanish.
The goal of building one of these robots was launched in 2014 as part of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the first episode, a challenge dubbed the
Gundam Global Challenge
.
Over the next six years a team of engineers worked on the prototype to ensure that the 24 moving parts that make it up are working perfectly.
National robotics firms such as Asratech and Yaskawa Electric have collaborated in this challenge, whose budget has not been disclosed.
The robot, which as a baby has already begun to take its first steps, was destined to be the main attraction of a theme park that was to open its doors from October 1.
This date, however, has been postponed due to the pandemic, as reported by the operating company.
"This decision has been made to ensure the health and safety of our fans and our employees, in response to the worldwide spread of covid-19," it reported in a recent statement.
"We apologize to all the fans who anxiously awaited the grand opening and we ask for your understanding," concluded the text, without anticipating a new opening date.
Sometimes reality gets in the way of dreams, even when dreams have already learned to walk.
A recreation of the structure that the robot is in and that was going to appear at the Gundam Factory Yokohama fair, which has been suspended due to the coronavirus.
gundam-factory.net
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