Real-life Transformers: how far off are we from Optimus Prime and Bumblebee?

Ten years on from the original movie, the titular robots in disguise haven’t arrived in the real world yet… or have they? Ben Travis tracks down the real-life Transformers that are living in our midst…

Advanced robotics: Project J-Deite has made a quarter-sized real life Bumblebee Transformer (Project J-Deite)

When Transformers first arrived in cinemas in 2007, it played into the ultimate adolescent fantasy: what if your rusty old first car was actually a shape-shifting robot who helped you save the world and get the girl?

Sadly, for now the story remains exactly that - a fantasy. While the Autobots and Decepticons have continued to duke it out on the big screen, real-life Transformers still remain largely in disguise.

However, some engineers across the world are making significant progress in their attempts to create robot vehicles. Here are the projects transforming fiction into fact.

Creating a buzz

A collaboration between Japanese scientists called Project J-deite aims to create a full walking Transformer by 2020. That end date is still a few years off, but the mission is well underway — the most recent video update showed off a ¼ scale Bumblebee model that walks and drives — although, sadly, can’t yet communicate through the car radio. But, there’s still time for development.

Busting a move

The Humvee Bioloid is much smaller than its real-life military counterpart, and was developed by engineer JK Han at Virginia Tech. It’s probably not ready to take on Megatron in battle yet, not least thanks to its table-top size, but once transformed it delivers a few dance moves and pulls off a Usain Bolt pose. If it ever becomes fully-formed, it’s a prime candidate to join the Autobots.

Elementary machine

The closest thing the world has seen to a genuine Cybertronian comes from Turkish company Letrons. Its team spent eight months creating Antimon, a life-size Transformer made from a shiny, red BMW, with an electronic battery, 120-degree neck movement, and remote control movement software. And, this is just the start — Letrons says its team will be working on different models “in the near future”. Maybe the AllSpark does exist after all…

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