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Japan Robotics

Giant Mech Robots From Japan 104

Posted by Soulskill from the i-for-one-welcome-our-new-robot-overlords dept.
New submitter Hanike writes "According to The Verge, Japanese hi-tech company Suidobashi Heavy Industry is developing a 13-foot, diesel-powered, real Mecha robot called Kuratas! 'The two-man team — artist Kogoro Kurata and robotics researcher Wataru Yoshizaki — isn't stopping there, either. Suidobashi wants to mass produce, starting at the low price of $1.35 million. So, what do you get for the money? Kuratas has over 30 hydraulic joints that allow it to freely move its arms, legs, and torso. It can fire water bottle rockets and fireworks, and its 6,000 round-per-minute BB Gatling guns are controlled with the pilot's smile; part of Yoshizaki's V-Shido (read like bushido, as in "way of the samurai") control system. In order to get around, the four-legged mech uses ordinary wheels, but the Suidobashi team wants to get it walking in order to navigate uneven terrain.'"
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Giant Mech Robots From Japan More

Giant Mech Robots From Japan

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  • Smiling? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Sigvatr ( 1207234 ) on Tuesday July 31, 2012 @10:59AM (#40828955)
    How are you supposed to stop smiling when you are mowing down your enemies?

  • runs on wheels. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    'nuff said. Should have kept trying.

    • Note how any time there is motion you only see a portion of the object. The arm movements and in-traffic video are clearly CGI, and the raise/lower video could be done by a crane from above since everything above the legs is cropped out.

      And while we see the gatling barrels spinning, I don't see anything being fired out.

      In other words, this is a sculpture, not a mech. I doubt it's anything other than an elaborate miniature plus a fake cockpit.

  • I can't wait for the gauss cannons and jump jets!

    • Should be easy enough to retrofit with your choice of home made or modified weapons systems.

  • Truckasaurus? (Score:5, Funny)

    by CosaNostra Pizza Inc ( 1299163 ) on Tuesday July 31, 2012 @11:10AM (#40829087)
    to be mass-produced for monster truck rallies here in the states. XP

    • to be mass-produced for monster truck rallies here in the states.

      As usual science fiction is way ahead of reality, ten years to be precise. What you describe was the exact plot of Allen Steele's short story "Mudzilla's Last Stand", initially published in January of '93! From an article about Steele:

      His writing shows a passion for the sometimes lurid tone and language of the lowest forms of popular culture, as in "Mudzilla's Last Stand," which details how future announcers will promote the battle of Mecha-men robots as a working class entertainment on the same order as Monster Truck Rallies.

      I remember reading the story in Asimov's when it first appeared. Aside from being prophetic, it was a pretty good read. The plot is that a Japanese company builds a real battle mech much like the one in the TFA. The robot was intended to be genuine military hardware, but the

  • Replace the water guns with real guns and you have your first SkyNet robot. http://terminator.wikia.com/wiki/Series_T1 [wikia.com]

  • Interesting note... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ZiakII ( 829432 ) on Tuesday July 31, 2012 @11:15AM (#40829137)
    The robot can only be controlled by a small person such as a 12 year old girl with orange hair.

  • Will this program be secretly run by the Agriculture Ministry as well?

  • Interesting, but most of the construction looks non-functional and aesthetic - like the hands, for instance. It does not look sturdy enough to serve as a riot suppression device, nevermind anything serious.

    Bubba with a mig welder, an old Asian cab-over-engine mini-bus type van, a junked Caterpillar frontend loader, and the frame from a US truck could probably make something similarly aesthetic which is actually able to perform work. Betcha it'd be more fun to pilot, too.

    It'd certainly be fun to pilot, but w

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by gagol ( 583737 )
      This is a multimillionnaire toy not intended for combat or work. It's job is to be cool and unique. If I were that rich, I would buy one just for the fun of it!
    • And too slow, if the video actually shows a production unit rather than a dummy/prototype.

      Come on, we have the technology to make mechas capable of running and jumping with a human pilot, when they will join the pieces into one thing? The only thing that still complicated is the source of energy needed!

  • this gets my vote (Score:5, Insightful)

    by spidercoz ( 947220 ) on Tuesday July 31, 2012 @11:27AM (#40829285) Journal
    Best Thing This Week

  • Gatling guns? Then it's Heavyarms! (Score:3)

    by sandytaru ( 1158959 ) on Tuesday July 31, 2012 @11:28AM (#40829309) Journal
    Now, they need to make one with a giant scythe and bat wings so we can have Deathscythe, and one with angel wings for Wing Zero. /nerd

    • Although the design kinda reminds me of VOTOMS. Oh well, I am sure some Super Robot Wars game has something comparable. Kinda reminds me of a quad Angriff. (sans Raven parts). Or something from Armored Core.

      Anyway this being Japan I am sure it has plenty of upgrades and final attacks. I'll wait for the Shin Kuratakaiser that will surely come eventually.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Lando ( 9348 )

      Now, they need to make one with a giant scythe and bat wings so we can have Deathscythe, and one with angel wings for Wing Zero. /geek

      FTFY

      A nerd would be interested in the drive train, targeting system, etc, i.e. what can I do with this. Geeks are interested in how cool it looks. It was a shock when I realized I was a nerd and didn't qualify to be a geek.

  • Oh great, now someone's gonna have to put on their octocamo and fight their way into the bases until the Big Boss battle...

  • Was the software for it written by Gowa Digital Systems?

  • So, when can we see some awesome footage of these mass produced robotic overlords trashing Tokyo? It's traditional.

  • If you're in Canada, this was featured a year or so ago on Daily Planet on the Discovery Channel:

    Daily Planet - Embedded with Mark Miller - Land Walker [watch.ctv.ca]. Though it just burns me that they seem to not say "mech" at all.

    I think this one was slightly cheaper...

  • the videos sucked. i wanted to see it in real action

  • I've seen the training footage.... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    This company is actually a subsideary of Infinite Stratos Corporation, LLC. based in Tokyo, Japan.
    They use high-school aged kids because their reflexes are faster, but it gets the job done.
    There was some competition between the test pilots, but things have evened out and settled down
    (you know how emotional kids can get). Several countries already have their own models (as was
    noted in the training videos) - exacly which countries is a closely guared secret, though.

  • ..., and its 6,000 round-per-minute BB Gatling guns are controlled with the pilot's smile

    This gives the term "land of the smiles" a totally different meaning.

  • The future is here! (Score:3)

    by MaWeiTao ( 908546 ) on Tuesday July 31, 2012 @12:37PM (#40830153)

    This brings a tear of joy to my eye... Finally, some overt examples of future technology. All that's left to fulfill my childhood vision of the future is flying cars, supersonic transports, torus-style space stations, and proper spacecraft (FTL optional but strongly encouraged).

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gl4ss ( 559668 )

      it's more of an example of a movie animaton made in a certain shape for no good reason at all.

      if you want a thing that runs on wheels, is controlled with a playstation controller and has a real gun you could call up the swedish(though I'm pretty sure they would only sell to very few countries in the world..).

    • Watching the videos deflated all of my excitement. Much of it was so cheesy that I initially thought it was the work of a special effects studio. As it stands it's not much more than a moving sculpture.

      I can't help but think that someone could produce that actually works by cannibalizing a few small construction vehicles. But at the end of the day the thing is going to be so heavy and slow as to be pointless. It's a nice fantasy, but I think the future is more likely to be powered armor, a la Starship Troop

  • I want two of them. Placed on either side of my drive way will do. It would show people I mean business.

  • They say it they will be selling them for $1.35M each. But not many anime geeks can afford $1.35M toys. Is there some practical industrial application that the developers have in mind but don't seem to want to publicize at this point?

  • Is this like Tetsujin 28 or Gigantor?

  • I'll take mine with a Minigun and Hydra 70 rocket launcher.

    Wait until my neighbor's dog sees me coming.

  • The point is to pummel to death an infestation of rodents with lethal amounts of BBs.

  • It's a tachikoma from Ghost in the Shell. Sadly it doesn't come in blue.

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