Two Japanese engineers have built a 4-foot tall working Transformer

24 Oct 2014

Photo via j-deite.jp

Children of the Eighties, rejoice! A couple of Japanese engineers have designed and built a 4-foot tall functioning Transformer of your adolescent dreams.

The machine, which is called the J-deite Quarter, has the ability to go from robot to sports car, weighs 30kg, and walks at a speed of 1 kilometre an hour. In car form, however, it can get up to a more sprightly 10 kilometer an hour.

Developers Kenji Ishida and Watur Yoshizaki – of the firms Brave Robotics and Asratec – aren’t stopping there either. The ‘Quarter’ in ‘J-deite Quarter’ hints at the duo’s ultimate aim: Building a 16ft tall Transformer car by 2020. Plans to build a fully operational Transformer car that you can drive around in, calls itself Optimus Prime and, as a leader, displays authoritative yet compassionate traits, has yet to be announced.

A video has been released via YouTube that shows the robot’s capabilities. Next up for Ishida and Yoshizaka is an 8ft tall version of J-deite, which is scheduled for release in 2016. More specs and information is available on the project’s website.

Images via j-deite.jp

Dean Van Nguyen was a contributor to Silicon Republic

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