Meet Archax, the 15-foot 'Transformers'-style robot that's the brainchild of a Japanese startup and is selling for $3 million

• Tsubame Industries has built 3.5-ton, 15-foot robots that can morph into vehicles.
• The Japanese startup plans to sell them for $3 million each after unveiling them later this month.

Life imitates art — or at least it seems to in the field of robotics.

A Japanese startup developed a 15-foot-tall robot that can morph into "vehicle mode" like the hit movie series "Transformers," which premiered 16 years ago.

The robot, called Archax, can be operated by a pilot who sits inside, much like the Amplified Mobility Platform exoskeleton suit in "Avatar."

Tokyo-based Tsubame Industries completed its prototype of the robot this summer and plans to sell five for $3 million each, Reuters reported.

The robot maker says on its website that the luxury market, such as "ultra-luxury cars and private jets," is the benchmark of its products, and it assumes its main customers will be wealthy people who will purchase them for domestic rather than commercial use.

The CEO of Tsubame Industries, Ryo Yoshida, told Reuters that it's been in development for two years. "The initial reason for creating it was that I wanted to make a new vehicle," he said. "In addition, Japan is really strong in the animation, games, and robot industries, as well as in automobiles, so I thought it would be great if I could create a product that compressed all these elements into one that says, 'This is Japan.'"

Take a look at Archax, which is set to be unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show later this month.

Archax has nine cameras on its exterior and the footage is displayed on four-sided screens inside the cockpit

Tsubame Industries

The robot is controlled by pilots, which can get into the cockpit by climbing a ladder and opening the hatch

Tsubame Industries

It has a "robot mode," where it's fully standing and all moving parts can be operated. There is also a "vehicle mode," where its arms can be folded

Tsubame Industries

The cockpit has two joysticks and six switches so it can tilt and be moved forward, back, left, and right

Tsubame Industries

The exterior of Archax is made from reinforced fiber plastic and has a ladder and handrails to help pilots get into the cockpit

Tsubame Industries

Tsubame Industries is offering it in five colors: "Sapphire Blue," "Pearl White," "Spark Red," "Atlantis Green," and "Midnight Purple"

Tsubame Industries

It towers above humans as it has an overall height of 4.5 metres, or 14.8 feet, and weighs 3.5 tonnes

Tsubame Industries

The company hopes the robots will one day be used in the space industry and to help with disaster relief

Tsubame Industries

Archax is battery-powered and has front-wheel steering and a rear-wheel drive

Tsubame Industries

It has an emergency stop switch that can be placed in the cockpit or at the tip of one of its four legs to stop it at any time

Tsubame Industries

Akinori Ishii, the CTO of Tsubame Industries, told CNN its nine cameras give it a 360-degree view of its surroundings

Tsubame Industries