MegaBots wants to crowdfund a giant robot fighting tournament

[Shawn Knight]

MegaBots, the team behind the American half of the recent giant robot battle, wants to do it again. Specifically, they claim that teams from all over the world are interested in building robots and waging war against them. So, they’re going to create a giant robot tournament to settle the score… that is, if they can get enough support for the project.

MegaBots is turning to Kickstarter to fund the tourney. They’re seeking to raise $950,000 and already have around $12,000 from 174 backers. But, with 29 days to go, there’s still a chance it could go viral and get the money it needs.

It’s worth mentioning that this is an all-or-nothing campaign, not a flexible funding effort. That means, if they don’t reach their goal, the project will receive zero funding.

The first battle between MegaBots and Japan’s Suidobashi Heavy Industries was about what you’d expect: heavy on the editing and theatrics, kind of light on actual action. That event played out over the course of several days but was presented online in a condensed, round-by-round video.

MegaBots views this as an opportunity to jumpstart a new sport and believes it can do so within the next decade. That may be a bit of a reach but then again, competitive gaming is now considered a sport so is it really that wild to envision a robot combat league?

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/71918-megabots-wants-crowdfund-giant-robot-fighting-tournament.html

 

[VitalyT]

But, with 29 days to go, there’s still a chance it could go viral and get the money it needs.

I would replace the word viral with mental in this case.

 

[psycros]

Thy should Try again in ten years - the tech might actually have moved beyond the joke phase by then.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Not until it can walk... this is just a top heavy tank with a huge vulnerability to the pilot.

I honestly don't ever see these cool looking "mechs" becoming a real thing for combat. The only reason to have pedal locomotion would be to get over rough terrain, but that isn't at all necessary when we have drones that can carry weapons and simply fly over the terrain.

Now I definitely see other potential for bipedal "mechs", something like this could potentially be a lot faster for moving large products of shipments in a warehouse. A lot faster than a fork lift and a lot more versatile. Would also be useful for construction, disaster cleanup, vehicle recovery, etc. etc.

 

[Uncle Al]

Now if ever there was an apparent crowd sourcing scam in the making, this might be it.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

"The first battle between MegaBots and Japan’s Suidobashi Heavy Industries was about what you’d expect: heavy on the editing and theatrics, kind of light on actual action. "

So their initial fight was less impressive the the fake-as-hell WWE fights, and they want a million dollars to do it again?

Yeah no. Try making the fights interesting first. Battle-bots did it quite well. These big, heavy tanks with arms are not exciting.