As MegaBots fine-tunes its mighty Mark III gladiator robot for an August duel with Japan’s equally awesome Kuratas contraption, a fierce-looking fighter from China has just made it clear that it, too, wants to get involved.
Rather than have this summer’s eagerly anticipated event descend into a brutal robotic brawl that could see a million nuts and bolts flying in every direction, California-based MegaBots is currently deciding whether to allow China’s “Monkey King” fighter to take on its Mark III bot once the dust’s settled on August’s robot rumble.
At this stage, little is known of Greatmetal’s Monkey King machine, though its promo video (above) and recently published pics suggest it may be able to cause MegaBots’ robot warrior some serious damage. The metal monster, unveiled over the weekend at an event at the Beijing National Stadium, is capable of fighting standing up or on all fours, a handy skill that could certainly make things tricky for rivals.
First up, however, is MegaBots’ clash with Suidobashi Heavy Industry’s Kuratas. Both teams have been strengthening their respective creations over the last few years to ensure they can comfortably withstand carefully aimed strikes in the technicals.
While MegaBots Mark II machine had been deemed strong enough to deal with a serious assault, the team discovered the on-board human pilot would likely die in any such event. Not wanting to incur any casualties during this summer’s showdown, the team have been busy reinforcing the pilot’s protective cage as part of its Mark III design.
“We have about 3,000 wires on the robot, around 300 hydraulic hoses, 26 of the fastest hydraulic valves in the world, and a 430 horsepower gas engine that wants to be in a car and not a robot,” MegaBots co-founder and CEO Gui Cavalcanti told Digital Trends in April.
By any measure, the Mark III is an awesome machine. Weighing 12 tons and standing tall — very tall — at 16 feet, this mighty bot can hurl 3-pound projectiles at speeds of more than 130 mph — power its team hopes will be enough to take down Kuratas.
But the Japanese team is all set and knows how it wants to win: “Just building something huge and sticking guns on it — it’s Super American,” Suidobashi’s Kurodo Kurata says, adding, “If we’re going to win this, I want to punch them to scrap and knock them down to do it.”
The battle of the really big bots is just a few months away, though an exact date is yet to be announced. We’ll keep you posted.
