In the world of giant robots, things may be about to get out of hand. MegaBots, a US company in the midst of developing a ride-in piloted robot has challenged its only real counterpart, Japanese company Suidobashi Heavy Industries, to a robot duel.
In what will be something akin to a video game coming to life, the Japanese company accepted the duel on the basis that the robots would fight in a melee knockdown battle, not just with MegaBots’ preferred paintball guns.
Both companies have machines in development that operate along similar principals. The robot’s pilots are able to control movement via a set of controls inside the machine, or through tablet devices. The sizeable machines don’t display much fine motor control, but do manage some industrial-sized mayhem.
Megabots aims to turn such robot bouts into a televised sport, which could well accelerate development if it manages to attract viewer interest and the sponsorship dollars that follow and its kickstarter campaign to bring the bout to life has already attracted a lot of interest.
The science fiction-sounding tournament is expected to take place sometime next year.