how enthusiasts and engineers around the world create huge robots

If we are to believe sci-fi movies like Pacific Rim and anime like Evangelion, Gundam, in the second decade of the 21st century we should be living side by side with huge robots. But you can’t find robots: gadgets and drones take their place. Perhaps humanity lacks an alien invasion to gather strength and take robotics to the next level. However, all over the world there are geeks and companies that do not wait by the sea for kaizu, but are already making “fur”.

We collected six of the largest.

Kuratas: all-metal art project

Who did not like “Transformers” in childhood – he does not have a heart. Japanese artist and blacksmith Kogoro Kurata definitely has it. In 2012, together with the programmer Wataru Yoshizaki, he realized the childhood dreams of geeks around the world and introduced roboticeha Kuratas.

This is a 4-meter structure made of 4 tons of metal, which is driven by a powerful diesel engine. It accelerates the robot up to 10 kilometers per hour. Kurata had no experience with electronics and hydraulics. He started with a miniature robot model, not schematics, so he had to learn a lot along the way.

However, everything worked out: a giant robot, in whose chest a human pilot sits. The machine is equipped with a display and is controlled by a controller or from a smartphone. Kuratas is equipped with a machine gun and a robot claw. The machine gun fires plastic bullets and activates in response to the pilot’s smile when the target is locked. “Don’t accidentally shoot a gunfight while smiling too much,” the creators warn. Yoshizaki was in charge of all the software. Together they founded Suidobashi Heavy Industry.

The team opened a website for their project where visitors could order their own “fur” for $1.35 million. They received 3 thousand orders from Japan and from abroad.

Method-2: a huge exoskeleton robot for Bezos

• 2 meters

• 1.6 tons

Korean Hankook Mirae Technology was founded by millionaire Yang Jinho, a big fan of anime about “furs”. In 2014, he enlisted designer Vitaly Bulgarov and a team of 30 engineers to create a huge robot. And together they succeeded: Method-2 is a 2-meter robot that weighs 1.6 tons, moves on two legs and waves with two huge arms. And the movements are controlled by a person who sits inside the robot. The finished project was presented in 2017.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos managed to steer the robot at the MARS conference in Palm Springs. “Why do I feel like Sigourney Weaver?” exclaimed the billionaire. Mainly because Method-2 looks and functions similar to the exoskeleton of the famous heroine Weaver from the movie “Alien”, Lieutenant Ellen Ripley.

True, Method2 has much more peaceful goals. It is planned that such robots can be used in industry, or to perform complex and dangerous tasks. For example, to help dismantle the ruins of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima.

MegaBot: Mecha Tractor with Paintball Gun

The Megabots project started out as a failed Kickstarter campaign. Apparently, no one believed that three guys from Massachusetts were seriously going to build huge machines for fighting robots. Nevertheless, the team managed to grow, raise funding, and make a car worthy of the public’s attention. MegaBot Mark II is a 4.5-meter robot weighing 6 tons, rides on caterpillars and shoots paintball guns with 1.4-kilogram shells that fly at a speed of 160 km / h. Serious car.

The second campaign to attract attention began with a challenge to a duel. They challenged Kuratas to a duel. “You have a huge robot, we have a huge robot. You know what needs to happen.” Suidobashi accepted the challenge. Megabot has won.

The fight was really spectacular. But with a serious drawback: it was scripted and did not take place alive. Of course, getting two tractors with an unusual design to fight each other beautifully on camera is difficult. However, the fans were not enthusiastic, which is why the idea of ​​​​MegaBost robo-fights withered over time.

RoboDragon: theatrical fighting robot

• 11 meters

• 45 tons

One of the disappointments was Canadian Barry Parkin of La Machine. She specializes in live shows with huge robots fighting each other or tearing cars apart. So he proposed a duel: his RoboDragon against Megabot.

The Dragon, also known as the RoboDragon, is a 45-tonne, 11m-tall craft that breathes fire and bites through iron with a pair of huge jaws. Despite the complexity, it is more of an attraction than a car. La Machine has another impressive robot, the 40-ton Kumo spider robot. It is run by 16 people at the same time.

Unfortunately, MegaBots Inc is going through difficult times, so the fight will most likely not take place.

Gundam: a full-scale robot model from the legendary anime

• 18 meters

• 24 tons

While the Americans and Canadians sort things out, the Japanese are not wasting their time. Evolving G Co. Ltd. Together with the authorities of the city of Yokohama, they built an 18-meter robot – a copy of the machines from the anime Mobile Suit Gundam. Actually, the project was dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the franchise.

Development started in 2014 and ended in 2020, although the opening had to be delayed due to the pandemic. The robot weighs 24 tons and consists of 200 parts. This is not a statue, but a working mechanism: it moves, walks and gesticulates. The robot is parked in a special dock where visitors can climb to view it up close.

Gundam serves as a city landmark. Yokohama was the first in Japan for many technological innovations, from railways to telecoms. Therefore, the creators of the robot felt that this was the most suitable place for him.

The Robo Dock will be open to visitors until 2023.

Robo-yak

Fast forward to neighboring China. Here, too, there are enough enthusiasts of huge robots, including in the army. It was the Chinese military who made the robot: not as massive, as far as videos and pictures can tell, than its counterparts from other countries. But more functional.

Robot Yak is a mobile platform. Despite its bulky appearance, the yak has many degrees of freedom and can move back and forth, diagonally, turn, jump, run and accelerate. The robot is equipped with sensors and is able to adapt to different conditions – it overcomes rocks, trenches, muddy roads, deserts and snowy expanses.

The robot has a speed of up to 10 km/h and can carry a load of up to 160 kilograms. Actually, the “yak” was created to deliver goods in difficult conditions, too dangerous for people. It is also suitable for reconnaissance purposes, as it is able to collect information about the movements around it. It is possible that weapons can be installed on it.

The Chinese army has a similar smaller all-terrain mobile platform, the Geda robo-dog. It weighs 32 kilograms and is capable of carrying another 40, responds to voice commands and recognizes faces. Both machines resemble the Spot robot of the American Boston Dynamics. Chinese developers claim that this is a home development.

It may not be long before we see the HRH guarding the borders. But the robo-fauna – please.