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1/1 VOTOMS Builder Is Now Making a Robot He Can Ride

Kōgorō Kurata, an iron craftsman who is best known for building a life-size VOTOMS statue, is now building a 4-meter-tall (about 13-foot-tall) moving iron robot with a cockpit. The robot, tentatively named "Kuratas," will use the robotic control software V-Sido, developed by Wataru Yoshizaki, to move around. With Yoshizaki's help, Kurata has been developing the robot since January of last year. Once complete, the robot will weigh four tons.

The robot will use hydraulics powered by a diesel engine in order to move. It will have four "legs," with wheels attached at the bottom of each one. The cockpit of the robot, located in the robot's "chest," has a hatch that also uses hydraulics to open and close.

The website Gigazine has posted pictures of the robot in development, and Kurata's blog has more pictures documenting the progress of the robot, as well as pictures of a 1/20 scale model to show what the finished product will look like. Kurata described the robot as a "four-legged, engine-driven, ground-warfare humanoid weapon-type toy robot."

Over five years ago, Kurata built a life-size iron figure of Armored Trooper Votoms' Scopedog Brutish Custom robot. The robot was displayed at the C3xHobby convention in Tokyo in 2007.

Source: Gigazine

Update: Specified model of Scopedog. Thanks, TokyoGetter.