Spotlight: Tachikoma {^^}

Tachikoma, from the series “Ghost in the Shell,” are as large as an baby elephant, are painted sky blue and have four “eyes” fitted on the surface of their bodies. 3 are on the head and 1 is beneath the abdomen. These eyes sometimes become expressive in the typical anime style. Tachikoma are controlled by individual artificial intelligence, are capable of speech, and generally exhibit a childish, curious, joyful and active personality, although they are consummate professionals in the field and work very hard. They normally operate as independent units and receive orders from human agents, but they can also be directly piloted from a cockpit in their abdomen.

Tachikoma have four legs and two arms. They can move by walking, or they can drive at high speed by using the wheeled footpads on each of their four legs. Each wheel appears to be angled and omnidirectional, allowing the Tachikomas to move in any direction with their holonomic drive system. Other abilities of the Tachikoma include jumping great distances, sticking to vertical or inverted surfaces, engaging an thermoptic camouflage mechanism, and grappling/rappelling using their adhesive string launchers. Tachikoma maintain control of their legs while using wheels to drive down a road, and shift their weight around turns. They can also roll briefly on to two legs while driving to avoid an obstacle or pass through a narrow space. To make balance easier, they can move their heavy abdomens with a ball joint.