TOKYO (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) — A robot, which resembles a lion and is controlled like a motorcycle and a horse, will go on sale in 2035, Takahiro Ueno, project manager of the Safe Adventure development team at the General Projects Office, directly reporting to the president of Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
“Right now it’s a concept. But by 2035, sales will begin. We’ve announced this (the start of preparations for industrial production). It’s already been decided,” he said.
Ueno told Sputnik/RIA Novosti about the Corleo concept, which marked the beginning of the journey to realising the idea of safe human travel across rugged terrain – places where people can’t reach on foot or by any other means of transport.
Footage of Corleo is captivating: it and its rider climb mountain peaks, run through impenetrable forests, cross mountain streams, and leap over obstacles.
“First and foremost, we wanted to create a robot that would become one with a human, a robot that a person could ride and utilise all its functions. It also had to ensure safety. The concept is for it to be a robot that obeys humans, moving as they need. It’s a combination of a motorcycle and a horse, allowing humans to reach places they can’t walk or ride,” Ueno explained.
He noted that the price of this travel companion would unlikely be six-digit in US dollars.
“I’m responsible for the technical side, so it’s hard for me to say the price, but it won’t be 100 million yen (US$640,000); it’ll probably be an order of magnitude lower (tens of thousands of dollars),” Ueno explained.
Corleo weighs about 200 kilograms, and with the rider, about 300.
“That means it can support a person weighing up to 100 kilograms. It has batteries, and its electricity is generated by a hydrogen engine. It’s not very big, about the size of a human head, no bigger. It has four hydrogen tanks, which the engine uses to generate electricity. They’re enough for a day’s travel. But since we’re talking about traveling in the wild, far from civilisation, we recommend bringing spare hydrogen tanks. The advantage is that it doesn’t need to refuel or recharge. The hydrogen tanks are enough,” says Ueno.
Robohorse Corleo can not only transport its rider to hard-to-reach areas, but can also act as their companion.
“It’s controlled by a steering wheel and a foot lever, similar to a stirrup on a horse, like riding a horse. It will also understand voice commands. We plan to incorporate voice functions; it will even be able to speak and hold a conversation. Since we have similar developments in humanoid and other robotic dialogue, we intend to use these technologies in Corleo,” Ueno emphasised.
He noted that the decision to commercialise Corleo was made due to the strong interest Corleo generated at the recently concluded Expo 2025 in Osaka.
“When we proposed this concept, we didn’t know whether there would be demand. But then, following Expo 2025 (in Osaka), there was a huge response, and as a result, we’ve now announced that we’re beginning preparations for its commercialisation. We don’t yet know whether there’s demand, but there is definitely interest,” Ueno said.
Corleo was one of the exhibits at Kawasaki’s booth at iREX 2025, the world’s largest robot exhibition, in Tokyo. It was the largest ever in terms of exhibitor numbers, with 673 companies at 3,334 booths, including 140 companies representing 14 countries.
According to the Japan Robotics Association, the industry’s recession ended in the summer of 2024, and from July to September 2025, orders increased 25.9 per cent year-on-year, reaching 221.9 billion yen (US$1.43 billion) in value.
The number of robots ordered during this period totaled 49,000, representing a 20 per cent increase over the same period last year. – Bernama-Sputnik