A large part of fiction involving robots portrays humans able to pilot large mechanized suits, or more commonly known as mecha, as the term was popularized by the famous Japanese manga Gundam. Scientists were able to create a manned robot which has a similar function to a mecha portrayed in various works of fictions, including the movie Avatar.
A team of engineers from the Hankook Mirae Technology company in South Korea has built a 13-feet tall manned robot named Method-2. The robot is controlled by a human pilot located in the cockpit inside the robot and can take several steps just like a human. However, it can be quite a hazard as weighs around 1.5 tons.
The Method-2 manned robot successfully completed its initial tests conducted by a team of 30 engineers from the robotics company during the afternoon of December 27. The Hankook Mirae Technology chairman, Yang Jin-Ho issued a statement claiming that the company’s robot is the first and only bipedal manned robot in the world. Method-2 was built with the purpose of working in conditions such as extreme hazards, where humans cannot go without adequate protection.
The manned robot closely resembles the military robots seen in the movie Avatar, when the pilot was placed inside the machine so that it can pilot it. The current Method-2 manned robot is still far from other giants manned robots, as it does even have the same functionality as the robots in Avatar who are lighter and respond more quickly to commands allowing the pilot for a greater flexibility.
Nonetheless, the Method-2 is able to mimic the pilot’s limb movements, despite its arms weighing around 286 pounds each and it around two times taller than the average height of a man. Due to its excessive weight, every time the robot takes a step the ground shakes and its many motors produce a loud whirring sound.
The manned robot costed around $200 million to develop since 2014, money invested by Yang as he wanted to his childhood dream of building a robot become a reality. The project was not without its challenges, as the size of the robot was at an unprecedented scale and they had no reference point in building it. Further research and development are still required on its power and balance systems.
Image credit: Hankook Mirae Technology
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