Hajime Sakamoto, via Facebook

"Voltron" and "Transformers" were two of my favorite cartoons when I was growing up, and it saddened me that I never had giant robot friends to hang out with in real life. But there's hope yet.

Hajime Sakamoto, president of the Hajime Research Institute in Osaka, Japan, is working on building a 13-foot robot with a built-in cockpit for humans. Though the project is already under way, Sakamoto is looking for additional contractors and sponsors to complete the giant task.

The Hajime Research Institute is no stranger to building large robots. Sakamoto and his team previously built a 7-foot humanoid (see the video below), and they're already looking ahead to creating 26- and 59-foot robots.

Of course, you might be asking yourself the question, "Why?" For Hajime, part of the motivation is moving robot innovation forward and the other is serving its customers. According to Hajime's Web site, the institute's philosophy is "to cheer people by dream power. We provide a dream to people through robotic technology."

It certainly would be a dream come true for me, as long as it doesn't fall into evil hands. Could you imagine a life-size Gundam setting out on a path of destruction? Yikes.

(Via TechCrunch)