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1/1 VOTOMS Builder's Rideable Robot Nears Completion

Kōgorō Kurata, an iron craftsman who is best known for building a life-size VOTOMS statue, plans to display his moving "Kuratas" iron robot, which is 4 meters tall (about 13 feet tall), weighs approximately 4 tons, and features a cockpit, at the upcoming Wonder Festival event on July 29. The robot uses Wataru Yoshizaki's robotic control software V-Sido to move around. With Yoshizaki's help, Kurata has been developing the robot since January of 2010.

In an interview with Japan's Wired magazine, Kurata's robot, which is being built in the mountains of Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture, was revealed to have around 30 hydraulic joints, as well as the ability to grab items and fire a gatling gun capable of shooting 6,000 BBs a minute. The cockpit of the robot can seat one adult, and inside are its controls and a display that shows feedback from cameras showing the front and back of the robot, as well as an overhead view from a camera installed in a miniature helicopter drone. 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.

Kurata has plans to mass-produce the "toy robots" through his Suidobashi Heavy Industry group, and stated to Wired that he wishes to sell the units for at least 100 million yen (about US$1.27 million) each. Kurata also said in the interview that he hopes that his robot will encourage others to follow his example and create their own large-scale rideable robots. According to the group's Facebook page, the robot will be exhibited at 1 and 3 in the afternoon at the Wonder Festival event.

Source: Wired Japanese Edition