The Arrival of Kuratas - A Japanese Engineered Gun-Wielding Robot

Gu-wielding robots are only ever seen in action films, until now. Suidobashi Heavy Industry, A Japanese electronics company in Tokyo, have revealed a $1.2 million gun-wielding robot manipulated using smartphone technology. This robot is powered by diesel, is four meters in height, weighs 4.5 tonnes and can move at 10 km/h.

The robot carries a gun that can fire up to 100 rounds a second (we’re talking about firing ball bearings, not actual bullets). Firing of ball bearings is activated using a facial recognition system (i.e., when the pilot smiles, the firing system is activated). The main attraction to this robot technology is the fact that the pilot can control movement (via motion sensors) of the robot and send commands from the safety of a smartphone from a distance that is connected to a 3G network platform. The robot is called Kuratas and is made up of 30 hydraulic joints that allow it  to pick up objects. Comparisons of this robot have been made to the Mitsubishi MK-6 Amplified Mobility Platform in the Academy Award Avatar.

In terms of application, the gun-wielding robot has been programmed to undertake tasks such as fire fighting and cleaning.