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CNet:
Prosthesis is a 9,000-pound quadruped, or four-legged machine, that can lift a car, climb over boulders and run in the snow. But the ultimate goal is to pioneer an entirely new sport of mech racing.
Imagine these giant mech suits racing around a parkour course with obstacles and heavy objects to push or drag, and you have an idea of where this sport is headed.
[...] Prosthesis has been in development for over 10 years, but now it's time for the mech suit to make its public debut. The first professional athlete to sit in the driver's seat was Cassie Hawrysh, a Canadian champion skeleton racer. During an intense three-day training session learning to control the mech, she managed to take a step in the quadruped. "That was like a monumental event for us," she says, "but I also fell flat on Prosthesis' face a couple times, which was hilarious and terrifying because you're falling from height."
Mech racing, coming to you soon on the Ocho.
Previously:
(2017-04-07) America Takes On Japan in Terrifying Giant Mech Battle This August
(2015-05-19) Giant Fighting Robots at Maker Faire
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 22 2020, @04:36PM (2 children)
"This has obvious industrial and military use, and they want to use it for racing?"
It does not. It's huge, it's slow, it's clunky as all balls. It's hard to pilot (which is admittedly a good thing for a sport -- you want to see pilot skill as a factor).
Using it for sport lets you actually refine the design of a moving frame like this in a reasonable timeframe while still generating income, since as it stands, it's not even close to ready for any kind of job site.
Given the kind of sport that it seems to be aimed towards (an obstacle course that might involve lifting shit with the mech), you very well might see the machine be developed into something that can actually be useful.
but it sure as hell isn't there, and they'll need money and recognition to take it there, and using it in races would do just that
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday August 22 2020, @06:07PM
Thanks for posting that. I would have posted something similar, but you beat me to it.
Look at the mining industry if you want to see a single frail human being in solitary control of extremely powerful machinery. Don't overlook the farmers either. What they do involves immense physical work, and that work, done uninitelligently , is useless.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 23 2020, @03:26PM