Some people can get a little ticked off when they think of all the advancements in technology older movies predicted we’d have by now. Watch “Back to the Future II” and you’ll see flying cars, duel ties, freeze-dried food, auto-fitted clothes and more. “Blade Runner” says we’re suppose to have robo-hookers by now! While we do sort of have hover board technology, it’s far from the future we imagined. So, it’s easy to feel betrayed by sci-fi movies. Sure we made some tech jumps that make sense, but what about the really super cool s***? Where’s our jets packs? Where’s the space stations? Where’s our giant robot battles? Well, in the immortal words of Samuel L. Jackson: “Hold on to yer butts” cuz that last one totally happened last night!
Streamed last night on Twitch, the American robotics company Megabots went up against Suidobashi Heavy Industries in the world’s first ever giant piloted robot duel. Which officially make this the BEST TIME TO BE ALIVE! The US company challenged its Japanese rivals to a duel via YouTube back in 2015. “Suidobashi. You have a giant robot, we have a giant robot,” announces one of MegaBots’ pilots Matt Oehrlein in the video while wearing an American flag as a cape, with hair as big as his ego. “You know what needs to happen.” Since giant robots are a staple of the Japanese culture, Suidobashi agreed with one condition: that actually physical combat be included in the brawl. Megabots accepted the terms, but it meant their machine needed an overhaul since it’s systems were more ranged-based. Thus started the two year wait while both company perfected their fighting machines.
Suidobashi’s 13 ft. robot Kuratas is billed as the “world’s first fighting robot” and can be controlled by a single pilot or via remote control. Kuratas’ wikipedia entry says it sports a four-wheeled, thirty joint exoskeleton. The vehicle has an advanced targeting system with multi-weapon capabilities, including a powered “iron crow” that can pick up objects, which is linked to the pilot by a sort of power glove. It was the faster and arguably the more advanced of the two fighters.
Megabots had to upgrade to its mk. III mech, deemed “Eagle Prime” in the middle of the fight. It made up for lack of speed with size and power like a true American, sporting a 430 horsepower engine, standing at 16 ft. tall, and weighing nearly twice as much as its Japanese opponent. It takes two pilots to control the robot armed with a massive chainsaw and cannons of its own!
Commentary was provided by Mike Goldberg of the MMA and robotics expert Saura Naderi. The duel was held in an abandoned steel mill in Japan, with no spectators beyond the two sets of engineers. The multiple rounds spread out over several days gave the teams time to repair their bots, so the fight unfortunately couldn’t be streamed live. We got three rounds of international metal-on-metal mayhem, which Engadget called “a slow, brilliant mess.” But when the smoke cleared and the motor oil was mopped up, it was Eagle Prime standing victorious! Megabots, Inc. is hoping this history making match-up paves the way for a robot fighting league so the U.S. can defend its new championship title. There’s already some rumblings of a new challenger from a Chinese team, so it’s well within the realm of possibility that in the future we could see more WWE/UFC battles with giant mechs.
And you have no idea how stoked I got after typing that last sentence.
Watch the epic clash between Suidobashi Heavy Industries’ Kuratas and Megabots, Inc. Eagle Prime below!
