Real-life mech robots that 'kill' –with a smile

Japanese engineers have built a 13-foot-tall diesel-powered robot that fires its gatling guns upon the pilot’s smile —called "the smile shot." Dubbed "Kuratas", the robots were designed to be non-lethal, however, shooting only BBs from their guns and ordinary water bottles from their "rocket launchers". "Be careful not to cause a shooting spree by smiling too much!" the manufacturer warns, humorously.

 

Suidobashi Heavy Industry is even planning to mass-produce the 4.4-ton, diesel-powered Kuratas, all for a cool $1.35 million each, tech site The Verge reported.

 

“Kuratas has over 30 hydraulic joints that allow it to freely move its arms, legs, and torso. It can fire water bottle rockets and fireworks, and its 6,000 round-per-minute BB gattling guns are controlled with the pilot’s smile,” The Verge said.

 

The creation of artist Kogoro Kurata and robotics researcher Wataru Yoshizaki uses a V-Shido control system that can use wheels and can walk to navigate uneven terrain.

 

A separate article on Geekosystem.com said the product raises speculations about the market the machine is targeting.

 

“What, precisely, kind of market are they looking to tap here? Evil genius? Diabolical anime fan? The fact that this thing exists means someone is going to buy it, but thinking there’s a lucrative demographic out there for them to milk is probably pure fantasy,” it said. — TJD, GMA News