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Gear Up & Pilot a Life-Size Ingram Mecha From Patlabor the Mobile Police

What's better than seeing a life-size anime robot? Piloting a life-size anime robot. While the technology isn't quite entirely there yet, there are a handful of companies building pilotable robotic mecha. One of those companies is MOVeLOT, and we got a chance to look at and even sit in their AV-X30 Ingram from Patlabor the Mobile Police.

Nestled under the silhouette of the Tokyo Skytree tower, surrounded by other small mechanic garage shops, lies the MOVeLOT facilities. It's rather unassuming at first glance, but hidden inside the building is the AV-X30 Ingram you can pilot.

Piloting the Ingram seems complex at first. However, the engineers involved in the construction of the Ingram found an ingenious solution: Wi-Fi sensors attached to gloves. True, this takes away from our notions of piloting a robot via joysticks and pedals. But the tactile nature of the control as well as knowing the precise movements is extremely satisfying.

We were also able to speak with the project lead and CEO of MOVeLOT, Kento Hiroi. When asked about some of the difficulties when building the AV-X30 Ingram, Hiroi cited the size of the cockpit and getting the Ingram to move synchronously with the pilot's movements. Regarding the cockpit, it's a tight fit, akin to a fighter jet's cockpit, but this is understandable. If you look back on the anime, each pilot is almost always crammed into the cockpit. So, while Hiroi thought it was difficult building around a real-life Ingram cockpit, it surprisingly works.

The one question many people, especially Patlabor fans, asked when the real-life Ingram project was announced is, “Why not build a full body of the Ingram?” While seeing a life-size AV-X30 Ingram would be amazing, Hiroi noted that would have increased the height of the project by another five meters (about 16 feet), making it difficult to enter and exit, as well as ballooning the production cost by 10 times.

On top of this, Hiroi stated getting a bipedal robot to walk is not only difficult but would be unstable and potentially dangerous for the pilot. Plus, it would mean a ticket to pilot the Ingram would cost over 100,000 yen (about $700). So, it's understandable the project was kept to just the Ingram's torso.

The life-size Ingram isn't the only treat for visitors to MOVeLOT's facility. If you look around the facilities, you'll find several displays of Patlabor items. Among them are life-size replicas of the Ingram's giant revolver, baton, shield, and boot-up RAM disk (plus Captain Gotō's boilerplate incident report form, as a clear file folder).

Also on display is a scale model of the life-size replica, (fictional) newspaper clippings, and an illustration by Patlabor and Kimagure Orange Road character designer Akemi Takada. All these items add to the ambiance and immerse you into the world of the anime series.

Tickets for the AV-X30 Ingram are slated to go on sale on September 15 at 9:00 p.m. Japan time (8:00 a.m. EDT), and the attraction is set to run between October 1 and October 31. MOVeLOT offers three levels of tickets: the Pilot Plan, the Factory Manager Plan, and Viewing Plan at 5,000, 2,000, and 1,000 yen respectively (about US$35, US$14, and US$7). Fans will receive a pilot verification card and pilot the AV-X30 Ingram with the Pilot Plan; receive a security clearance card, tour the facilities, and fill in a supervision check sheet with the Factory Manager Plan; or receive a tour of the facilities with the Viewing Plan.

For safety reasons, MOVeLOT will only allow those between 12 and 70 years old and under 90 kilograms (about 198 pounds) to pilot the AV-X30 Ingram. The MOVeLOT facilities is available from the JR Kinshicho and Tobu Skytree Stations.

Piloting the real-life AC-X30 Ingram is amazing to say the least and something fans of Patlabor the Mobile Police won't want to miss. So, if you're in Japan in October and love Patlabor the Mobile Police, definitely check the AV-X30 Ingram out. And if you miss the chance, it's planned to appear at different events in 2025.

Sources: Press event, MOVeLot's website