Back in 2014, Brave Robotics came out with a fully operational Transformers robot dubbed J-deite Quarter. The only problem was, it was just 4.3 feet (1.3 m) tall. Since then, we’ve also known about the company’s goal of building a more life-sized version.
By life-sized, we mean capable of sitting at least one adult inside, as any real Autobot would while in “car mode”. Well, meet the J-deite RIDE, a 13 ft (4.0 m) tall 2-seater transformable robot who can walk by itself and drive using battery power.
The best part is that RIDE can transform from car to robot while the passengers are inside, which has been known to come in handy in various Transformers movies and cartoons.
Naturally, it’s still a big, slow clunky thing, and its moving motion is probably slower than that of the largest sauropods that ever lived. Let’s put it this way, you wouldn’t want this robot having your back in any Pacific Rim type of scenario.
In the end, this is still one heck of a technical achievement. We should also acknowledge how unlikely it is that we’ll ever come close to building a real-life Autobot, regardless of budget, at least not without major breakthroughs in materials, energy and Artificial Intelligence. Until then, let’s hope we won’t need transformable robots for anything more serious than just goofing around.
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