In September, we reported on Eagle Prime, America’s massive 12-ton battle robot designed and built specifically to do battle with Japan’s own battle-mech, Kuratas. America’s robot, which was touted as bigger and more powerful than its Japanese opponent, even got its own hype reel, with dramatic footage of it targeting old cars with its weapon systems and even destroying its predecessor.
The fight itself, however, was subject to repeated delays as the folks at Megabots struggled to find an environment suitable for more than 20 tons of heavy equipment to duke it out. They claimed it was also in the interest of secrecy, as a large crowd of spectators would certainly be at risk if they were to amass.
Well, the waiting is finally over, and at the bottom of this article, you can watch the full near-to-30-minute special devoted to these behemoths duking it out.
There’s just one problem: it doesn’t even come close to living up to the hype.
And boy was there hype. For nearly two years now, images and YouTube videos have been surfacing from Megabots as they worked to raise the funds needed to launch what was touted as the future of combat entertainment. These mighty robots were going to tear each other apart, and we were finally going to enter into the sort of future we were promised as kids: one with massive combat robots, jet packs, and hover boards. Unfortunately, just like the hoverboard announcements that plagued the internet over the past few years involved boards that technically do hover… these giant robots are also technically do fight. Just not well, or for very long.
After even more hype building from announcers that included Mike Goldberg of UFC fame, America’s Iron Glory and Kuratas finally squared off… two years of hype and thousands of hours on development and production went into this fateful moment when the best of American technology would face off with the best Japan had to offer. Ali vs. Frazier. Red Sox vs. Yankees. Iron Glory vs. Kuratas.
Or not quite.
The whole fight lasted about thirty seconds, and consisted of Kuratas just sort of… knocking Iron Glory over. Not to worry though, that was just a warm up fight. Kuratas still had its work cut out for it with America’s pride and joy, Eagle Prime. Twice as big, twice as powerful, and reportedly must faster, Eagle Prime would get its chance to avenge Iron Glory’s defeat, and surely, many hoped, this fight would be much more dynamic.
And it almost was… right up until the two robots got stuck together and the fight had to stop. They eventually got them fighting again, allowing the U.S. to come away with the victory.
If you have a half an hour and a lot of patience, you can watch the entire event below:
Images courtesy of Megabots Inc.
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Additional comment, I had dinner with my nephew’s boy’s who are in 4H Robotics Competition at the Texas State Fair. They got a huge kick out of this story. This is the first time for their club to compete so they weren’t quite prepared but they are still having fun and learning a lot from the experience.
And just because boys will be boys, I have to add in that one of them (they are twins) got his arm stuck in the chair at the restaurant. I really had to hold myself to not laugh. He handled it really well. So did Mom, who promptly went to the restroom and got paper towels and a handful of soap. She lubed up his arm and pushed from one side while I pulled from the other. We finally got it out after a couple of minutes of pushing and pulling and lubing with soap. No bruise, just red and he was a little embarrassed by the whole deal. About the time we got his arm free, the manager came over with some oil and a towel. Too late! Be thankful you aren’t expecting twin boys. LOL!
I love the technology, but I’m personally more interested in seeing people create drones, or machines that will be going to Mars.
You’re right Alex.. Underwhelming to say the least. Two skid-steers with grapple buckets would have been more entertaining. I feel cheated.
Thanks Alex, I’ll take your word for it that it’s boring. Don’t have half hour to spend watching two robots get tangled up and stuck together. But if you had told me they really duked it out, I would have found the time. I laughed out loud when Kuratas knocked over Iron Glory. Sorry for our team, but after all that hype, you would expect something more spectacular. But I am sure one day, we’ll look back and this and laugh even harder as the technology will have developed further and it will be a real battle. Remember Rockem- Sockem Robots? I still have one. I don’t know why I kept it. It just seemed like a cool piece of nostalgia to keep around. Fun party game…. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/713e78acd3df497bf4a0fbeda5bec932c74fdd29b03601bd9d7fa2eaa802fdc2.jpg
Yeah, I watched all the hype footage and thought to myself “too much babysitting and perfect circumstances . . . ” for this to be a dynamic and engaging fight. Alex’s short GIF made me laugh so hard I spit my drink out, but to be honest I was bummed also. Just a bit further to go.