Apr 14, 2005

Mech-Warrior in my backyard

Even dreamt of commanding your own MechWarrior, or shooting sotong like the APU-commander in Matrix Revolutions? Now that dream is now a reality...well, almost.




Sakakibara Kikai, a maker of agricultural machines such as fertilizer compactors, hay cutters and mechanical feeders, has developed the Land Walker, a 3.4m tall bipedal single-seater human-controlled robot, complete with hydraulic machine gun and rifle on each of its mechanical arms.



From the company website:
The robot that adults of today have longed for since they were children...Your dreams of "when will I be able to ride and control my own robot?" are now fulfilled in the real physical experience of the [LAND WALKER].

By aid of computer-assisted control, the robot can be moved front, back, left and right by four foot-controlled pedals. In addition, the rifles and machine guns on the left and right arms of the robot can be manipulated with your own hands. You only need this to control such a large robot effortlessly. Presently, there is only one prototype available, but we hope to bring multi-robot combat games a reality...!

Specifications:

Height 3m40cm
Gross weight 1000kg
No. of passengers 1
Power Engine (250cc)
Movement Sliding bipedal walking movement
Speed 1.5 km/h
Equipment Air cannon 2 types (Cushion ball)
Right-side : Bar gun type (6 rounds)
Left-side : Shot gun type (6 rounds)
Cockpit monitor (changeable)
for viewing front bottom and back
bottom of roobt body

Movies of the prototype can be viewed here and here. But the view from the cockpit feels like the whole thing is about to topple over, so I suppose it may still be a while before we see this thing on the market (if ever). Meanwhile, we can dream on, right?

Thanks to Hikikomori for the link.