Giant Robots Set to Battle in August!

Tuckerfan · Apr 8, 2017

Hopefully, it'll be on a Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Remember that US vs. Japan giant robot duel? It's happening this August

“Giant. Robot. Duel.” — three words that shook up the internet back in 2015, when an American team of engineers named MegaBots challenged their Japanese counterparts, Suidobashi, to a fight by mecha. Two years later, it looks like the duel might finally be happening, with MegaBots today announcing a rough date for the event: August 2017.

Since the original challenge, the MegaBots team has been busy building up their bot, broadcasting their progress on YouTube and even collaborating with fellow internet roboticist Simone Giertz. They say the delay over the duel date (it was originally supposed to take place a year after the 2015 challenge) was because of venue problems, with the original location falling through. The new venue is being kept under wraps, says MegaBots, “to prevent any further potential delays,” but will be revealed in the coming months. MegaBots will also be showing off its Mk.III bot in the San Francisco Bay Area in May, if you’re near by and fancy a peek.

Obviously we’re all excited to see two multi-story robots take chunks out of each other with chainsaws and pincers and whatever it is the Japanese team has been grafting to their bot. But, we’re also a little bit skeptical about how fast and furious the final duel will actually be. These are real-life, honest-to-goodness robots — not super-agile, energy sword-wielding Gundam. Still, you gotta start somewhere, and at the end of the day, it’s still a Giant. Robot. Duel.
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Will Power · Apr 11, 2017

Sounds fun!

Bring on the beer & stibbles!

Tuckerfan · Oct 12, 2017

Tuesday! Tuesday! Tuesday!

The USA is taking on Japan in a giant robot duel you can watch next Tuesday

We’ve been waiting a long time to see the “world’s first giant robot duel,” and next week we’ll finally get to watch the metal-on-metal action. If you’ve forgotten the background, all the way back in July 2015 a US team of engineers (MegaBots Inc.) challenged their Japanese rivals (Suidobashi Heavy Industry) to a fight, but the difficulty in finding a venue and upgrading the robots has delayed the bout. Well, next Tuesday, October 17th at 7PM PT, the duel will finally be streamed on Twitch for all to see.

It won’t be a live event though. In a press release, MegaBots Inc, said that the duel consisted of “multiple rounds of fighting,” and that in order to give the teams time to repair their bots, the rounds were spread out over several days. This meant the fight “could not be livestreamed like a traditional sport.” The duel was held in an abandoned steel mill in Japan, with no spectators beyond the two sets of engineers. Commentary was provided by Mike Goldberg of the MMA and robotics expert Saura Naderi.

Over email, MegaBots’ Gui Cavalcanti explained that the duel was fought on a knockout system, with no point scoring involved. Victory is attained by either knocking over or disabling your opponent (or, if they surrender), with the weight, power, size, and weapons of the bots “left to each individual team.” Cavalcanti adds, though, that the weapons were chosen “to not cut through metal, but instead to damage it.”

If you’re expecting something like Pacific Rim on smaller scale (or BattleBots on a bigger one) you may be a tad disappointed. MegaBots’ Eagle Prime and Suidobashis’ Kuratas are both big bots (16 and 13 feet tall, respectively), but they’re pretty slow and have limited mobility. As robo-fights go, this is more likely to be like be like Rock ‘em Sock ‘em robots, with the two mechanical creations squaring off and exchanging blows until one is incapacitated.

Still, Rock ‘em Sock ‘em robots don’t weigh 12 tons or come equipped with 8-foot chainsaws. It’ll be worth tuning in to see what happens.
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Dayton Kitchens · Oct 15, 2017

I can't take it too seriously given their mobility is tread based and not walking.

oldfella1962 · Oct 15, 2017

Dayton3 said: ↑

I can't take it too seriously given their mobility is tread based and not walking.
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but what if they fight on a treadmill? Oh yeah, I went "old school" wordforge on your ass!

Tuckerfan · Oct 17, 2017

Today's the day!

Fisherman's Worf · Oct 17, 2017

Starting in like 10-15 minutes

https://www.twitch.tv/megabotsinc

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Giant Robots Set to Battle in August!

Tuckerfan BMF

Will Power If you only knew the irony of my name.

Tuckerfan BMF

Dayton Kitchens Banned

oldfella1962 the only real finish line

Tuckerfan BMF

Fisherman's Worf I am the Seaman, I am the Walrus, Qu-Qu-Qapla'!

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Giant Robots Set to Battle in August!

Tuckerfan BMF

Will Power If you only knew the irony of my name.

Tuckerfan BMF

Dayton Kitchens Banned

oldfella1962 the only real finish line

Tuckerfan BMF

Fisherman's Worf I am the Seaman, I am the Walrus, Qu-Qu-Qapla'!

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