22 March/April 2021
MASATOSHI^ OKAUCHI/SHUTTERSTOCKMachines
7
// BY COURTNEY LINDER //A
T JAPAN’S YAMASHITA PIER, ABOUT 25
miles south of Tokyo, the world’s largest
humanoid robot has taken shape. Modeled
on the RX-78-2 Gundam—a fictional robot
that has been the subject of some 50 name-
sake TV series and manga since 1979—the
giant towers nearly 60 feet tall and features
24 degrees of freedom, meaning that it can move in
as many directions.
This beast of a bot appears to be the world’s
largest bipedal walking robot, and has become
an iconic fixture along the Yokohama skyline.
Fans began touring the exhibit, which includes an
on-site museum and cafe, on December 19 last year.
But there is dissent among faculty from some of
the most prominent robotics departments in the
U.S. about whether it qualifies as a walking robot
at all. Because this Gundam appears to use a sup-
porting structure to help it move, they consider it
to be a kinetic sculpture, or an art installation that
relies on motion to create some affect in the viewer.Want a 60-Foot
Robot to Walk?
Bend the Laws
of Physics