Agencies<\/p>\n
A Japanese startup plans to send a spherical robot inspired by Haro from the classic anime series \u201cMobile Suit Gundam\u201d into space by next spring. Spearheaded by Space Entry Co, based in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, the project aims to test whether \u201cEveryone\u2019s Haro\u201d can launch successfully, move freely in microgravity, and communicate as a partner just like in the anime.<\/p>\n
The robot\u2019s design was entrusted to mechanical designer Kunio Okawara, who created the original Haro in the Gundam franchise.<\/p>\n
It will be deployed to the Kibo Japanese experiment module on the International Space Station, where it will collect data for robots operating autonomously in space environments.<\/p>\n
The 21-centimeter-diameter robot, made of aluminum, will be designed to move in all directions using only its propeller system, with its cheeks serving as propulsion outlets. Sensors will detect obstacles and stop movement when necessary.<\/p>\n
It will also be equipped with a camera and microphone to facilitate communication with the astronauts and have light-emitting diodes that serve as \u201ceyes,\u201d allowing it to express simple signals through blinking.<\/p>\n
A crowdfunding campaign that began on April 14 to raise funds for the robot\u2019s space launch reached its first goal of 3 million yen in just three days, with 200 people making pledges.<\/p>\n
Backers can either join the project as participants, allowing them to be involved in the robot\u2019s development process and attend launch events, or alternatively receive exclusive novelty items.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope this project will serve as a gateway for more people to participate in space development,\u201d Ryoichi Kumagai, president of Space Entry, said at a press conference held on April 7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Agencies A Japanese startup plans to send a spherical robot inspired by Haro from the classic anime series…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[217,215,15832,15833,8,214,216,15831,13744,2294,458,5392,89],"class_list":{"0":"post-19976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-business-of-japan","10":"tag-gundams","11":"tag-haro","12":"tag-japan","13":"tag-japans-business","14":"tag-japanese-business","15":"tag-plans","16":"tag-robot","17":"tag-send","18":"tag-space","19":"tag-startup","20":"tag-to"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}