MegaBots, Inc, has officially launched their Kickstarter campaign in order to fund upgrades to their giant battling bot ahead of duel with a Japanese firm’s own mecha.
We originally posted about this story back in July, but here’s a quick summary: Giant robots. Duel. Japan VS America. Caught up? Good.
Last we heard about this, Suidobashi CEO Kogoro Kurata agreed to duel American builders MegaBot, Inc, on one condition: there would be melee combat.
Until now, the American bot was strictly outfitted with ranged artillery, but a retrofit funded by a Kickstarter campaign is hopefully going to bring the battling bot up to snuff against its Asian counterpart.
How, you ask? Chainsaw arm, obviously. “The most American robot ever made,” indeed.
Grant Imahara of Mythbusters fame is on board, as is a NASA engineer and the BattleBots company, among others. Pledge at certain levels and you can get scale models of the upgraded suit. And… are those steer horns?
Yes, steer horns and bald eagles. Also check out the Japanese battler, Kuratas, in the gallery below:
If funding goes especially well, additional features include adaptive balancing technology to keep the bot on its toes, a new tread set-up, and if we’re lucky, maybe some safety features for the pilots.
Yes, these will be piloted mecha battle suits.. No, I don’t know how the pilots will survive this.
I’m eager to see what Japan brings to the ring, as there is a lot at stake for them. “I cannot let another country win this,” Kurata says. “Giant robots are Japanese culture.”
As of this writing, the campaign has reached about 70% of its initial goal, with more than three weeks left to go. What weapons do you think Japan’s robot is going to have? A mega-katana is a bit too on the nose, and yet… I really hope it’s a mega-katana.
Source: Kickstarter
