A Japanese engineer named Hitoshi Takahashi spent 11 years creating this huge, diesel-powered bug bot from nothing. And now, as he did recently in Ibaraki Prefecture, he shows up in parking lots and amazes everyone.
Here, you can see Takahashi when he was 50 years old, starting work on the Kabutom RX-01 in 1998. Alone.
This type of horned beetle is called “kabutomushi” in Japanese — hence the name “Kabutom”.
He completed Kabutom RX-02 in 2000, when he was 52 years old.
And in 2009, at the age of 60, Takahashi completed the Kabutom RX-03, a giant beetle-shaped robot, able to walk with all six legs and able to carry six adult passengers.
At the time, he told Fuji TV, “I said to my wife I was thinking about making a kabutomushi robot that you can ride. He said, ‘Oh, that sound interesting, so make it. You could probably ride it to take out the trash.’”
Now, Takahashi keeps busy, showing off his creation on the weekends, and his recent showing has made his robot the talk of 2ch, Japan’s largest forum. He also finished a new creation, the Heracles A-1, which is modelled after the Hercules Beetle.
Something tells me he won’t be content with just a Heracles A-1.
Kabutom [Official Site]
カブトムRX-03歩行デモ@まつりつくば2013 [YouTube]
Photos: Minkara, Design Access, けんけんのずくだせ日記, 中銀カプセルタワー応援団
Comments
7 responses to “Oh, It’s Just A 17-Ton Robotic Bug”
11 years holy shit!!………Was totally worth every damn one of them.
Love all the sentai posing with the Kabutom! It really does look like a zoid straight out of a sentai movie 😀
That is amazeballs! Probably the only time a beetle could ever crush SOMETHING ELSE.
This reminds me of Kamen Rider Kabuto so much, and for obvious reasons. This guy needs to make giant Zecters.
http://ooebihara.sakura.ne.jp/ganngu/0610/101511.jpg
the version1 looks the best though with the exposed hydraulics
This looks like it’s straight from Power Rangers
“I said to my wife I was thinking about making a kabutomushi robot that you can ride. (S)He said, ‘Oh, that sound interesting, so make it. You could probably ride it to take out the trash.’”
The best part. I bet he made this in an underground workshop and when he finally finished he took out the trash…..the look on her face would of been priceless!