US giant robot MegaBots wants to fight with Japanese mecha robot suit Kuratas
A US-based robotics company wants to hold a giant robot duel and it has thrown down the gauntlet to Japan's Suidobashi Heavy Industry.
"Suidobashi, you have a giant robot, we have a giant robot," MegaBots co-founder Matt Oehrlein says in a video challenge. "You know what needs to happen. We challenge you to a duel. In one year, we fight."
Suidobashi is the brainchild of Japanese blacksmith Kogoro Kurata, who has been researching large wearable robots similar to those seen in sci-fi anime franchise Gundam or Pacific Rim since 2012.
Aided by Wataru Yoshizaki, a third-year doctoral student who developed V-Sido software to power the robot's 30 hydraulic actuators and cool things like iPhone connectivity and control of the robot's hands, the duo were able to launch their product commercially earlier this year.
In January, the Kuratas went on sale on Amazon Japan for the princely sum of ¥ 120,000,000 ($978,000, £627,000, €882,000), but now, an American competitor has come along.
MegaBots is the new giant robot on the block
MegaBots Inc is a US start-up that was hoping to crowdfund enough money to create giant robot suits that humans could ride in and battle against each other in stadia to make a kind of souped-up Robot Wars-esque sport.
MegaBots announced in November 2014 that it was seeking $1.8m to bring their goal to life on Kickstarter, but unfortunately the campaign failed to get enough funding.
However 3D modelling software firm Autodesk was so impressed with how the MegaBots robot was designed using its software, that the firm agreed to help fund a full prototype, the MegaBots Mark 2.
Who would win – Kuratas or MegaBots?
K.O.! So in a fight, who would win – the Kuratas or the MegaBot?
The Kuratas robot stands 12.5ft (3.8m) tall, weighs 5tonnes and has a top speed of 10kph. And of course it has the really cool V-Sido software which offers a huge amount of sophisticated function.
It also comes with multiple onboard weapons systems, including a BB gatling gun that rattles off 6,000 rounds a minute and triggers when it detects the pilot smiling.
Meanwhile, the MegaBots stands 15ft tall, weighs 6tonnes and has a top speed of 193kph (120 miles). It also comes with a paintball cannon, as well as another cannon that can shoot free T-shirts into a crowd of spectators.
Speed and weight-wise, it looks like the MegaBots is bigger and badder than the Kuratas, but MegaBots co-founder Gui Cavalcanti told Quartz that he feels MegaBots needs much better armour "so we don't die".
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