Fans of anime know that mecha don’t just fly, they demonstrate a wide range of maneuvers with as much flexibility, speed, and responsiveness as a solider can demonstrate on the ground.

One of the biggest problems to solve with robotic exoskeletons is mobility. The idea here is to show off what can be done, fulfill some childhood dreams, and inspire others in the robotics field.īut Kuratas is far from a combat ready mecha. The mecha has weapons, such as a LOHAS launcher that can shoot filled water bottles at a target albeit inaccurately, and twin Gatling guns that track an fire off 6,000 BBs a minute that can be triggered by the pilot smiling, part of a tracking system that is aptly named the “Smile Shot”.Ĭheck out the instructional video, which shows off the features of the Kuratas:Īccording to Suidobashi, Kuratas is dubbed an “art project” to fulfill the dream of piloting your very own mecha. So, it’s really a proof-of-concept kind of project, as it is currently difficult to imagine what you’d do with a mecha as a civilian. Here is a video of the it’s public unveiling:Īs cool as Kuratas looks, it isn’t a killing machine. It also can be fully customized during the ordering process on the Suidobashi website, so you can get the bot in cool colors and tricked out just the way you want it. Unlike a mecha, though, it does not have jet boosters in the feet but instead rides on four wheels at a top speed of 10 kilometers per hour and 30 joints provide some movement. It can be controlled by a pilot in the cockpit or by a smartphone. Kuratas is 13-feet tall, weighs 4 tons, is equipped with weaponry (relatively tame, relatively), and has a base cost of $1.3 million. That’s right - it’s your very own mecha to zoom around in and target your enemies…sort of. The Japanese firm Suidobashi Heavy Industry showed off its pilotable Gundam-style mecha at this year’s Wonder Festival held outside Tokyo. Created out of a collaboration between artist Kogoro Kurata and roboticist Waturu Yoshizaki, the first footage of the mecha was posted on YouTube in April. Its name is Kuratas, and it’s a dream come true for mech robot fans.

War robot in real life