Two-meter Humanoid Robots Prepare to Rumble

A new Japanese TV show, “Real Robot Battle,” launches next month.  Eight two-meter tall robots will duke it out in a single-elimination tournament.  One of the teams entering is the Maru family, famous for its King Kizer series of robots, which have been frequent champions in Robo-One and related tournaments.  Until now, we’ve had only CG renderings and a few in-progress photos of the contestants being built.  But the Maru clan has come through for us with a few videos of their nearly-complete robot being put through its paces.

The robot, known as King Kizer Z, sports pneumatic cylinders in each arm that allow it to deliver a powerful punch in a short space, as demonstrated in the first video.

It also features four air-powered, 12-gauge (44 mm) cannons.

In the Real Robot Battle tournament, the robots — which must all be between 150 and 200 cm tall, and weigh 300 kg or less — will be fit with a number of “cores” (targets) on the chest, shoulders, and head.  The winner of each match is the robot who destroys the most of his opponent’s targets within the time limit.  So King Kizer Z’s cannons and pneumatic fists aren’t just for show; they are designed to destroy cores quickly, at a distance or in close.

Like all humanoid robot contests, it’s clear that this one will both push engineering limits, and serve to excite the audience about science and technology.  I wish the best of luck to the Maru family, and all the other contestants.

Now the only question is: how can we poor saps who don’t live in Japan watch this show?

Sources: Maru Family blog via Robots-Dreams; NTV‘s Real Robot Battle show site