Japanese engineer Masaaki Nagumo had always dreamed of suiting up as a robot from Mobile Suit Gundam, his favorite animated series growing up. Now he has made it a reality by creating a giant humanoid inspired by the science fiction franchise.
Developed at Sakakibara Kikai, a maker of farming machinery, LW-Mononofu is an 8.5m-tall, two-legged robot weighing in at 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,” 44-year-old Nagumo told reporters, noting the popularity of the iconic series that has spawned movies, manga, video games and more.
Photo: Reuters
Sakakibara Kikai has developed other robots and amusement machines alongside its main agriculture equipment business and rents them out for about ￥100,000 (US$929.10) per hour, for kids’ birthday parties and other entertainment, he said.
The company has created various robots, such as the 3.4m tall Landwalker, the smaller Kid’s Walker Cyclops and the MechBoxer boxing machine — but mighty Mononofu towers over them all and executes more complex movements.
It can move its fingers and turn its upper body, and walk forward and backward, but it is no speedster, moving at less than 1kph.
However, what it lacks in pace it makes up for with power: a bazooka-like air gun on its right arm shoots sponge balls at about 140kph.
“As an anime-inspired robot that one can ride, I think this is the biggest in the world,” Nagumo said.
However, Mononofu might be a bit too large: it is unable to leave the factory without being dismantled, because it was built taller than the entrance.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS