Interest
Mecha Wrestle at Japanese Robotics Conference
posted on by Gia Manry
Japan's Tokyo Big Sight event center hosted a new robotics event called Robotech (short for Robot Technology; the event bears no relation to the American animated adaptation of the same name) from July 28 to 30. During the event the Robotech Theme Zone booth space featured battles between remote-controlled robots named Great King Kizer, Chrome Kid, Dynamizer, and Garoo. The GizMag gadget blog is streaming footage of the battles.
The Robotech exhibition was a part of the 2010 MicroNano conference, which focuses on micromachines and nanotechnology. MicroNano is in its 16th year, but this was the inaugural year for Robotech, which attracted 53 companies and organizations. Unlike other robotics shows in Japan, this new show emphasizes robots in the service sector and "lifestyle support" as opposed to those in the manufacturing and business fields. According to the Japanese news site Response, the event showcased robots that provide nursing care, clean homes, and guide people, in addition to robots that battle each other.
According to the official Robotech expo website, the combined MicroNano/Robotech event attracted over 14,000 attendees (by turnstile calculations) in 2010, seeing nearly 17% growth over MicroNano 2009's 12,000 attendees.
Anime has a long history of robotic mecha series, including "Super Robot" titles like UFO Robo Grendizer, Gaiking, Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV, and Mazinger Z.
