MegaBots/ YouTube
2. Full STEAM Ahead
2. Full STEAM Ahead
2. Full STEAM Ahead
2. Full STEAM Ahead
2. Full STEAM Ahead

USA Wins Giant Robot Brawl, Leaves People Wanting More

Oct. 18, 2017
MegaBots finally aired its fight with Japan, which offered surprises, devastation, and ultimately, a solid proof of concept for a giant robot sports league.

The tech geek world hyped it for more than two years, and now it's over. The pre-recorded Giant Robot Duel came and went, underwhelming those expecting Pacific Rim-style fisticuffs, but delivering a fascinating 30 minutes (with limited commercial interruptions) of engineering envelope pushing. It also clearly demonstrated that with more funding and rules, MegaBots' plans for a giant robot fighting league are not only doable, but inevitable.

Essentially what the fight came down to.

The fight, in which only the teams' engineers, camera crew and announcers were present, was called before Kuratas sustained any more serious (expensive) damage.

As promised ahead of time, the match moved slowly at times, as combat vehicles the size of construction equipment are wont to do around humans. It all came down to the robots tangled in a clinch, slowly trying to bash each other to pieces, which isn’t all that different from MMA.

You could also see certain rules of engagement were instituted to protect the fighters' safety, as any actual sport would do. You can’t hit below the belt in boxing, so wisely, the pilots avoided direct hits to each other's cockpit.

Cavalcanti said in the following live Q&A that the intent was always to destroy the other bot, not murder the other driver. It's for that reason the chain sword was chosen, as it was more deliberate and controllable than the "Dentist Drill" they had experimented with. To still use weapons like this, maybe a remote-controlled sub-sport could be developed, or just have people on death row as the pilots.

The bout led off with an amuse-bouche of sorts: the OG MegaBot, the Mark II, now called Iron Glory, vs. Kuratas, now sporting 1.5-ton left fist. The track-based Iron Glory and four-wheeled Kuratas were in the same weight class, but nowhere near the same league. In a Medieval Times-like joust, Kuratas charged at the sluggish mech with an outstretched fist as a battering ram. Iron Glory missed a few wild shots from its paintball canon before the Japanese speedster, which can reach 18 mph, landed a solid blow. The mech immediately fell backwards, landing hard on the abandoned steel mill's concrete floor.