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Homemade Mecha Walks in Japan

Posted by timothy on from the first-alaska-now-this dept.

EtherAlchemist writes "Sakakibara Kikai has pictures and even a movie of their Land Walker robot (Babelfish translation here) which appears to work. Powered by a 250cc gas engine and armed with several guns (including 2 that fire Nerf-like balls) it stands at a little over 3 meters. What makes this one interesting is that it is actually armed and it is piloted instead of being an exo-skeleton. Makes me wonder if the creators of shows like Robotech or comics/RPGs like Battletech have any kind of licensening rights on appearance. I'd like to see a Warhammer..."

2 of 349 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Of Course by kai.chan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Starting from plastic models of their favorite mecha, the Japanese have a genuine interest in robotics. The anime and game industries are big factors in Japan's advances in Robotics. Because of mainstream interest in mecha, especially Gundam, University clubs and hobbyist start huge projects on trying to replicate the cool mecha seen in anime.

    Contrast to Robot Wars with wedges slamming each other (which I find to be quite monotonous and repetitive after the first few times), I believe that the path the Japanese are taking -- bipedal robots which are more versatile -- will benefit mankind in terms of usefulness and application. Heck, even the Japanese version of Robot Wars is much more entertaining to watch, with the robots going through various attack patterns. Check it out here

  2. Re:Of Course by McFadden · · Score: 5, Interesting
    You're right. There's even a prime-time family show over here (completely unrelated to anything techie) that has a robot-walker battle segment in it where amateur hobbyists duel it out with robots that would put the "wedges" to shame. Mom, Dad and the kids all turn up to control or cheer on the beast that they've been furiously developing in their garage. Their robots even do funky kung-fu style moves (albeit slowly!), or have 'gloat' manouevers so that they can do a little dance after they've knocked the other guy off the arena.

    A few years ago when the dotcom crash blew apart our industry I nervously accepted a position in Japan and headed out here not really knowing what to expect. I can honestly say its the best decision I ever made. I've never regretted it for a single day. I'd recommend it to anyone.