Slashdot Mirror

Order your robot today.
http://www.sakakibara-kikai.co.jp/products/other/L W.htm

what next?

Obviously a couple hundred of these with a .50 cal machinegun and rpg upgrade!

.........Of course they will have to tarmac over the DMZ so the mecha's can walk (read 'shuffle/slide') about...

For anyone who missed it a slashdot article from a couple of days ago

Commuter Vehicle..

http://www.sakakibara-kikai.co.jp/products/other/L W.htm

I wonder if this sort of thing could get a permit to be on the streets. Imagine the size of sidewalk-widening projects in the US. Might actually span a resurgence of new cities creations and help reduce density in already congested, corrupt, or "locked-down" cities where people cannot or are afraid to design homes that don't "fit" in with existing styles.

Now, if there's a "wreck on the sidewalk", it could mess up a fruit stand or crush some peds, but, as long as the operator has skill and a permit, "side-stepping" (hehehe) a sidewalk issue would be "a walk in the park".

I wonder how many miles this thing can go. Practically, though, wheeled conveyance might be the way to go. I wonder if Sakakibara Kikai-san will put wheels in the heels. Those who take up Robo-Club, a la Hells Angels, could be Heels Angels, hehehh, or "Heels/Angles", hheehh, if that set can spin like kids do in those wheeled tennis shoes. Talk about "Doin' da Robot" dance....

But, I can see some problems:

--Getting Groceries home
--Going on a date
--Going on a blind date (in snow storms, or on one with two extra pax (passengers...)
--Showing up at the TSA-controlled airports
--Showing up in Afghanistan or Tikrit (the Marines will either go slackjaw in awe, or reduce the thing to rubble, hehehe)
--Trying out lovers' lane (don't fall, or you'll have a REAL crush going on...)

--Stooping, kneeling,
--Being Flame-thrower-attacked (Stop, Drop, & Roll won't work here, but fire-suppression bottles might...)

--Doing a last robo-tango-in (name your town...)

David Syes

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

They wouldn't either.

On the landwalker page they list the method of locomotion as "two-legged shuffling." And you can see wheels on the soles of the feet in the diagram.

The headline should be Homemade Mecha Rollerskates in Japan.

The video (someone please mirror it)
http://www.sakakibara-kikai.co.jp/products/other/i mages/robo_s.wmv

What amuses me is it looks like it's sliding on the cement ground, rather than walking with their legs.

to the page containing the movie link (in case it's not accessable through bablefish) http://www.sakakibara-kikai.co.jp/products/other/L W.htm