Tsubame Industries, a Tokyo-based start-up, has created a 4.5-metre (14.8-foot) tall four-wheeled robot that resembles "Mobile Suit Gundam" from the hugely popular Japanese animation series, and it is available for $3 million.

The robot, named ARCHAX after the avian dinosaur archaeopteryx, has cockpit monitors that receive images from exterior cameras, allowing the pilot to control the arms and hands with joysticks from inside its torso.

The 3.5-ton robot, which will be unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show later this month, has two modes: upright 'robot mode' and vehicle mode, in which it can travel up to 10 km (6 miles) per hour.

"Japan is very good at animation, games, robots, and automobiles, so I thought it would be great if I could create a product that compressed all of these elements into one," said Ryo Yoshida, Tsubame Industries' 25-year-old CEO.

"I wanted to create something that says, 'This is Japan'."

Yoshida intends to build and sell five of the machines to wealthy robot enthusiasts, but he hopes the robot will one day be used for disaster relief or in the space industry.