Sumida PatLabor

So, we went to Sumida city to tour the giant robot Ingram factory. It can be reached by either the Tokyo Skytree station (Tobu Railway), or the Kinshicho station (East Japan Railway Company).

Either way, it's about a 10 minute walk.

We booked a session, only to arrive and find we would have to pay more to sit in the cockpit. The price is to stand in the hangar, wear the gloves, while making the hands of the AVX-S30 INGRAM move.

Susan using the gloves to make the fingers on the robot's hand move. 

 

It's Japan, so you get to wear two pairs of gloves to control the robot. One pair disposable, the other pair with all the electronics to control the robots hands. 

All very hygienic, and sensible.

Susan passed on the additional cost to sit in the cockpit, but I had to have a go. Here's my head sticking out of the cockpit. 

A montage of shots I took of the interior of the very cramped cockpit.

It was a fun experience, but the pricing was a mess. The basic entrance fee covers the cost to reserve a seat to the lab. When you enter you're given a security pass to wear, and then the staff provide assistance to take pictures. I assumed we would get to keep the security pass. But, when we finished our tour we had to hand our passes back, or, pay to take one home.

This hidden extra cost, and other upselling coloured the experience.

My understanding, is that the cost of the full experience, which was unclear, but might have included moving the arms, while sitting in the cockpit, was priced at 15,000 yen (£70'ish pounds/ $95'ish dollars). 

The Ingram PatLabor Laboratory is run by MOVeLOT Inc.

So, I'm not surprised that they've just announced they're closing down the site at the end of the year. All the upcharges can't have helped sell the experience. 

Anyway, catch you all on the bounce.