The next time someone says that Transformers can only be seen the movies, tell him or her that she is wrong – because engineers have already made one in real life, and they plan to build more.
A Turkish research and development startup Letvision has assembled a legitimate Transformers – in its broad definition of a vehicle turning into a robot – from brand new BMWs. The robots they now call as Letrons are just as cool as the Transformers that appear in the movies, except that they do not walk, kick, punch, and grab things at all. At least not yet.
Twelve engineers from the company have been working hard to develop a fully-working prototype called ANTIMON, which starts off as any BMW on the road and converts into a giant robot only after a touch of button. Once it transforms, it shows its kinetic fingers, moving arms, and powerful wrist. And it talks a lot like Optimus Prime and Megatron, to add to the light and a camera on its chest plate.
For now the Letron they built is not yet ready to be driven on the road. But the toy can be driven using a remote control when in car mode.
It took them around 90 days to complete one new BMW into a Letron but Turgut Alpagot, Letvision’s sales and marketing director, said. But this time frame should be shortened to 30 days once technology is developed.
So far there is one major limitation in its design: it cannot be driven once the car is already converted.
“You can’t drive the cars after we’ve converted them,” Alpagot told Digital Trends. “It’s just an exterior. Inside, it’s been totally modified by our machinery. There are no seats, no cockpit, no gears, nothing that would let you drive it at present.”
No word from Letvision yet about the price of the Letron. The company is not selling it for now anyway.
“It’s more for corporate clients to use as a business showcase — for an advertisement, for example. But in the near future, we’re planning to develop Letrons for individuals. If we have the time and budget, we think it would be possible to make these available for sale over the internet,” he added.
