Japanese Engineers Create Real Life Transformer

Japanese Engineers Create Real Life Transformer

Any kid that grew up in the 80's should be ecstatic over this news. Finally, someone has created a car that can transform into a robot. A working car, and a working (kind of) robot. Brought to us by Asratec, it's name is J-deite and it's a 4 meter tall thing of beauty.

OK, it's not the fastest in either mode, but this is a massive leap forward toward making my childhood dreams come true. It's not especially speedy at the transformation, either. It takes roughly a minute for J-deite to transform from car to robot or vice-versa. Not bad, but not quite the 3-second switch from the cartoon. In car mode, J-deite can reach top speeds of about 60km/h, which isn't too shabby.

Things slow down a bit in humanoid robot mode, but not as much as I'd have expected. Using the rear wheels it can roll along at about 30kh/h or walk at a painfully slow crawl of 100 meters per hour. 

As with any technology, robotics moves forward in a series of small leaps. Soon we may expect to see personal transformers at dealerships like West Hills Ford Auto Repair Service in Bremerton, WA. According to their website, Asratec plans to upscale J-deite to a version 5 meters tall and much faster both in movement speed and transformation. Their intended plans for both models? Attractions in amusement parks. 

There's a part of me that loves the idea of this, but let's not get too hasty. I consumed a lot of media from the 80's, and with a combination of self-driving car technology and the advanced robotics of these transforming robots, I can see a problem forming. Let's just hope that Short Circuit and Transformers (just the Autobots) were more on the nose than Terminator and Maximum Overdrive.

Written By: Todd Hendrickson
Source:jdeite, autobodynews.com