| Suidobashi Heavy Industries, a company which sounds straight out of Metal Gear Solid, has revealed the Kuratas: A giant robot that weighs over four tons, measures in at a height of 13 feet, and includes BB Gatling guns that fire 6,000 rounds a minute triggered when the pilot smiles. |
A combination of touch screen interface, master-slave controls, and body gestures (with a Microsoft Kinect Sensor
) allow the pilot to control the robot’s arms.The system uses the V-SIDO software (pronounced Bushido) developed by Wataru Yoshizaki, who joined the project early on to wire the internal circuitry. This specialized robot control software is also being used by RT Corp to control the much smaller RIC-90 robot. Yoshizaki says he wanted to build controls that didn’t involve a mouse and keyboard, which would look especially uncool in a giant robot.
Disturbingly, this version comes with smile-activated twin BB Gatling guns that can shoot up to 6,000 BBs per minute. A camera inside the robot detects when you smile and the guns fire. That’s not to say that Kurata wants to make war machines. In an interview with Gigazine, Kurata said he hates the thought of his creation injuring people. It’s all just for fun, including the silly “eco-missiles”, but the robots could be used in a kind of next-generation Survival Game. Kurata suggested that the oil sheiks in Abu Dhabi might be interested in buying several units to host robot tournaments.
Suidobashi is offering these mean machines for $1.3 million each. For primary adopters with the right budget it is a drop in the bucket, or if certain Japanese politicians get involved, there may even be the potential for defence contracts.
SOURCE Plastic Pals
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