Giant robot — with bazooka
SHINTO: Japanese engineer Masaaki Nagumo always dreamed of suiting up as a robot from ‘‘Mobile Suit Gundam’’ his favourite animation series growing up. Now he has created a giant humanoid inspired by the science fiction franchise.
Developed at Sakakibara Kikai, a maker of farming machinery, LWMononofu is an 8.5m tall, twolegged robot weighing more than 7 tonnes. It contains a cockpit with monitors and levers for the pilot to control the robot’s arms and legs.
‘‘I think this can be turned into a business opportunity,’’ Nagumo (44) told Reuters, noting the popularity of the iconic series that has spawned movies, manga, video games and more.
Sakakibara Kikai had developed other robots and amusement machines alongside its agriculture equipment business and rented them out for about ¥100,000 ($NZ1257) an hour, for children’s birthday parties and other entertainment, he said.
The Mononofu can move its fingers and turn its upper body, and walk forward and backward. It is no speedster, however, moving at less than 1 km per hour.
But what it lacks in pace, it makes up for with power: the bazookalike air gun on its right arm shoots sponge balls at around 140kmh.
Mononofu is unable to leave the factory without being dismantled because it was built taller than the entrance. — Reuters