Japan¡¯s mega-robot creator is up for a battle of the bots after being challenged by a rival maker of the behemoths in the United States.
Suidobashi Heavy Industry founder Kogoro Kurata accepted a challenge Monday to partake in a robot brawl proposed by U.S. robotics firm MegaBots.
¡°Suidobashi! We have a giant robot, you have a giant robot. You know what needs to happen. We challenge you to a duel,¡± the Boston-based startup said in a video uploaded June 30, calling for a battle of the tech titans next June.
Kurata responded with his own video accepting the challenge.
¡°We can¡¯t let another country win this,¡± he said. ¡°Giant robots are Japanese culture.¡±
In 2012, Kurata invented a robot fanboy¡¯s dream ¡ª the 4-meter-tall Kuratas robot. The four-legged, 4-ton steel monstrosity is fully operational and can travel at speeds of up to 10 kph. Just like the robot characters of anime fame, it has a cockpit for a ¡°pilot¡± to climb into and operate it.
Kurata¡¯s opponent, U.S. start-up MegaBots, invented a 4.6-meter-tall humanoid robot ¡ª the Megabots Mark 2 ¡ª which can fire cannon-sized paintballs at speeds of over 160 kph.
In 2014, the company launched a crowdfunding campaign to build enough robots to stage an arena combat session of the metal hulks, but it failed to reach its fundraising target of $1.8 million.
In his filmed retort, Kurata provokes the MegaBots, urging his American rivals to build a better bot.
¡°Come on guys, make it cooler. Just building something huge and sticking guns on it is . . . super-American.¡±
The Japanese inventor settled on a melee combat format for the fight, saying he would ¡°punch them to scrap¡± in his quest to win the grudge match.
The two parties have a year to prepare for the duel, and further hype the already highly anticipated match.
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