Homemade Mecha Walks in Japan

EtherAlchemist writes "Sakakibara Kikai has pictures and even a movie of their Land Walker robot (Babelfish translation here) which appears to work. Powered by a 250cc gas engine and armed with several guns (including 2 that fire Nerf-like balls) it stands at a little over 3 meters. What makes this one interesting is that it is actually armed and it is piloted instead of being an exo-skeleton. Makes me wonder if the creators of shows like Robotech or comics/RPGs like Battletech have any kind of licensening rights on appearance. I'd like to see a Warhammer..."

Of Course

[jcuffe]

Japan would be the first country to build a walking robot that shoots stuff.

Terminator

[Virtual Karma]

Help!! the terminators are here

What the heck?

[FireballX301]

It has one autocannon and a single gatling cannon. Where are the Extended range lasers? Or the Crossbow missiles?

I'm actually quite impressed though, but I'd like to see a shot of it actually walking around and such.

I want one

[randallpowell]

It'll make city driving easier once I can crush SUVs and shoot slow drivers with Nerf balls. Imagine that thing crushing SUVs and orange balls bouncing off cars.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Re:Of Course

[michael376071]

I for one welcome our..... We know if any country is going to take over the world with biped robots, its going to be the japanese

Bot vs Bot

[Airconditioning]

Still waiting paitently for the day they're armed with real weapons and used in arena style fights to the death.

Clearly they'd never be used against real people.

I dunno 'bout you

[Huxley_Dunsany]

...but I'm waiting for the battle-royale between this and the RoboShark!

Seriously, it's awesome to see two amazing robotic inventions like these - maybe Asimov's vision of a robot-filled future isn't so far off...

Huxley

PS I just can't wait till RoboSharks and Rooba's start mating... Land Shark!

Sweet

[Mr.Zong]

Now we can pit the robot sharks against the robot suited humans in circle of sweet death.
Laser eyes, baby, laser eyes.

I love technology.

Re:Of Course

[SparksMcGee]

I feel I speak for all frustrated nerds who have so often wished for a robotic engine of death of our very own when I say "Ha ha ha! Fools! I'll destroy them all!"

/with ackowledgments to Gary Larson

Walking?

[Forthan Red]

That a pretty lose definition of "walking". Reminds me of Tim Conway's little-old-man character's shuffle.

Re:But...

[Virtual Karma]

If it really runs Linux then every 30 minutes it will freeze, halt all operations, spit out print outs of baseless FUDs against Microsoft and then carry on. If it runs windows then every time it tries to communicate with any other Robot that does not run windows it will spit out an error message "The cheap ass robot next to me does not follow MS standards and follows alternate standards approved by the rightful authorities. Please ask them it buy windows."

And the Pilot?

[CharAznable]

Any word on which 15 year old socially inept angst-ridden teenage son of one of the creators will be chosen to pilot it?

Re:Terminator

[NanoGator]

"Help!! the terminators are here"

Okay, that's it. If anybody asks me if I've seen John Connor, I'm pointing in your direction.

I wouldn't say "Walked"

[Rightcoast]

I wouldn't exactly say this thing walked. It rolled really.

Although this machine is really cool, It is kind of pointless to put guns on it (implying a military purpose) when enemy fighters could escape the contraption by simply fleeing over say, a parking block or curb.

Re:Pretty cool ..

[NanoGator]

"In case of a late-night Slashdotting, I've got a copy of the movie stashed temporarily: robo movie"

I triple-dog-dare-you to point a gun at it!

Re:Bad ass.

[NanoGator]

"Completely useless with the pseudo-walking, but still, if I had money, I'd buy 12." ... it'll be the best prom EVER!!

Homemade mecha in Oregon

[Chairboy]

That's most excellent, but with some craft supplies, you too can have a homemade mecha walking in your house too. tee hee

Here's the costume I made to carry my son for Halloween:
http://hallert.net/mech/mechcostume.htm [hallert.net]

Here's a video of it in motion:
http://hallert.net/mech/WalkingTheMech.wmv [hallert.net]

One word

[hydopower]

Awesome. The Honda robot, those exoskeletons from a couple months ago(for instance the "old people" walker, as if that's the real purpose), this, and the robot that does Tai Chi suggest to me these things: 1) The Japanese are rapidly advancing in bizarre robot technology, in both manned and unmanned forms 2) They may already be armed with strange weapons 3) They're definately already being trained in the martial arts We had better be prepared.

Re:And the Pilot?

[Slimcea]

I'd say this is closer to the Gundam/Mechwarrior series rather than Evangelions (since the Eva series is pretty much organic in nature).

Of course, if this will lead to hot mysterious blue-haired girls with red eyes, then I'm all the more for it :)

Oh Babelfish...

[Raynach]

From the translated article:

The left side shot cancer/gun type (6 departure)

So this mech is equipped with a asbestos gun. Great.

Has anyone else noticed....?

[Bifurcati]

Has anyone else noticed that this is the third robot post in the last 36 hours?!!!

Now might be a good time to get out the old Playstation and start practising against the apparently immeninent take over bid...

Re:Homemade mecha in Oregon

[MrScience]

Looks like the engine had a core breach! [502 Denied]

Re:Of Course

[Forthan Red]

Some people will do anything to win the con's costume contest.

Re:I want one

[Clay Pigeon -TPF-VS-]

With its top speed, you would be better of walking using your own two legs...

(all you amputees can bite me)

Sakakibara Kikai

[Kaenneth]

Oddly enough, this translates to "Sarah Conner Finder"

For Great Justice!

[Kaorimoch]

I hear it comes with a large speaker, which announces every 10 seconds "All your bases are belong to us."

Re:But...

[mjjohansen]

- but then it would have to be an official Apple product. Not enough semi-transparent white plastic for that.

Re:But...

[nmb3000]

And if it runs OS X, "everything just works."

...but it's made of bright green plastic and you only have one button. And it's the self-destruct button.

Re:I wouldn't say "Walked"

[toddhunter]

They same could be said of the daleks, but they did alright for a while

Waddling Overlords

[MrFlannel]

I for one welcome our new ... oh, nevermind, it can't even walk right.

Re:Watch out for that breeze!

[gl4ss]

well.. just using a car would get you over more terrains than this fake-walker.

a car and an uzi = much more useful for settling disputes :)

it's the ED-209!

[vena]

its only weakness... stairs.

Metal Gear!

[Alan Partridge]

It really makes my snake solid.

Re:Just because...

[gad_zuki!]

Fiction has no license defense really. Just about everything we use today was predicted in sci-fi 40 or so years ago. If it was possible to sue, it would have happened. Its one thing to talk about an idea and another to create a working version.

Robot-filled future

[sczimme]

maybe Asimov's vision of a robot-filled future isn't so far off...

Huxley

Sounds like a brave new world.

It's a modern miracle!

[erroneus]

How paralyzed soldiers can mame, kill and destroy again. I can't write more -- I'm moved to tears and cannot see the keyboard.

Re:I wouldn't say "Walked"

[softspokenrevolution]

The daleks made up for their lack of walking with a plucky 'can-do' attitude...

Exterminate!!! Exterminate!!!

Re:But...

[Xiaran]

The iDeathRobot

Mechs - BAH!

[JonKatzIsAnIdiot]

I'll take a hovertank (a la Hammer's Slammers) over a mech any day. Much more practical. A lower profile means it's harder to hit. It can get knocked around and it won't topple over. No knees that can be taken out with a single shot.

While all of you mech fanatics are rolling around on the ground like a octegenarian with a busted hip, I'll be safe and sound in my tank, busy putting you out of your misery.