As Japan rebuilds their giant Gundam statue, Hajime Sakamoto remains unimpressed. He wants to build a working Gundam, and hopes his company's 13 foot humanoid robot— complete with room for a human pilot—is a step in the right direction.
So far they've completed one of the robot's legs, but that's a far cry from a fully functional humanoid. To bring it to completion, his company—the Hajime Research Institute—is looking for sponsors and contributors to help fund it. If it does ever get built, the 13 foot tall robot could be the grandfather of a full-sized Gundam, since Hajime hopes to follow it up with a 26 foot bot, and then a 59 foot bot, the same height as one of the anime mobile suits.
The R&D behind this project also paves the way for the eventual creation of Mechagodzilla, giving Japan some much needed defence against eventual monster attacks. [Hajime Research Institute via Plastic Pals via TechCrunch]