Challenge accepted. The U.S.-engineered MegaBot Mk. II will be engaging the Japanese-made Kuratas in real-life combat.
First shown in 2009, Suidobashi Heavy Industry’s Kuratas was the first to claim the “giant robot” title, looking like it came straight out of a Terminator movie or Gundam anime series. Not to be defeated, American engineers from Boston-based MegaBots only recently came out with their own fully-functional giant robot.
Designed for sport combat, the MegaBot Mk. II weighs six tons and stands 15 feet tall. With one arm a turret gun and the other a cannon, both arms fire three-pound paint balls over 160km/h (120m/h). The MegaBot is operated by two pilots and is the first in a series of robots intended for turning the fantasy of giant robot battles into a real-life sport.
Human pilots are protected behind the grating face of the robot, where any paint ball projectiles aimed at the crew are effectively shredded, splattering the crew in paint instead of giving them giant welts. The MegaBots team hopes the future sport of giant robot battles will involve “high-speed projectiles flying around a giant playing field at top speed [and] robot limbs and armor plating littering the ground after a match,” according to their website.
The dream might become a reality in 2016 when the company goes head-to-head with Kuratas, weighing only 4.5 tons. Unlike MegaBots’ two tracks for feet, Kuratas is supported by four legs, allowing it to stand tall or crouch and move at up to 10km/h (6m/h). Fantasy-inspired features such as a three-panel cockpit display (with a touch-panel operation) make this bot really stand out.
Kuratas can even be controlled using a smartphone via 3G network.
Suidobashi Heavy Industry responded to the MegaBots challenge video on July 5. “It really came out of nowhere, so it’s interesting, I’ll give them that,” said Kogoro Kurata, CEO and founder of Suidobashi Heavy Industry in a video response.
Proudly wearing the Japanese flag in emulation of the MegaBots engineers sporting the American flag in their video, Kurata was not at all afraid of the challenge. “Come on guys, make it cooler. Just building something huge and sticking guns on it... It’s… super American.”
The only condition Kurata proposed was the need of melee combat. “If we’re going to win this, I want to punch them to scrap and knock them down to do it,” said Kurata.
Between now and the challenge’s yet-to-be-determined date, both companies will prepare their giant robots for the event of a lifetime, in which both robots will need to be ready for melee and ranged combat. MegaBot Mk. II may need to focus on maneuverability if it wants to catch its opponent in close combat, but Kuratas will need a heavier hand if it plans to knock out its much larger counterpart.
Who are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments below.
To learn more about MegaBots and the Mk. II, visit www.megabots.com. Visit Suidobashi Heavy Industry’s Facebook page to learn more about Kuratas.