Megabots is building a massive robot, dubbed Mark II or Mk. II. The company is preparing their giant fighting bot for the scheduled head-to-head duel with a robot built by Suidobashi Heavy Industry of Japan. Until now, the exact location and date of the duel have not been announced yet; however, the Boston-based company Megabots has launched a Kickstarter campaign two days ago (Aug 19) with the aim to raise money for upgrades.
Mark II is a futuristic "battle bot" that looks like it came out of the silver screen of Sci-Fi movies. The company has presented some illustrations of what the "Mark Two" robot could look like after the crowd funded upgrades. Among the additions planned for the robot's interchangeable, arm-mounted weapons system include a torch and a flamethrower-type device, as well as boxing gloves. That's a pretty impressive fighting arsenal of the giant bot.
The Boston-based company is imagining a future MegaBots sports league, with battling robots, a live audience, camera-toting drone and more. The co-founders of the American robotics company are Gui Cavalcanti, Matt Oehrlein and Brinkley Warren.
Megabots' Mk II has already made its fighting debut at Maker Faire San Mateo, in May 2015. In front of packed audiences, the robot destroyed there a junk car with giant paintballs. According to reports regarding the event, the human-operated robot was one of the top attractions. The Mk. II has also became the first functional "Mech" exhibited in July 2015 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.
The company headed by engineers Matt Oehrlein and Gui Cavalcanti specialized in the development of giant fighting robots. Mk. II is the first prototype, and it is 15 feet tall. It can move at just under 3 miles an hour but included in its fighting arsenal is a cannon that can fire giant paintballs at 120 miles per hour.
Soon, the updated version of the Mk II will engage in hand-to-hand combat with a 13-foot-tall Japanese robot. Megabots has recruited engineers from NASA and Howe & Howe Technologies to prepare Mk II for battle.
