Choose your fighter!
Mortal Kombot
Choose your fighter!
Florida-based IHMC Robotics teamed up with Boardwalk Robotics to build a humanoid robot called Nadia, who has some serious fighting chops.
A recent video shared by the company shows the carbon fiber-clad robot throwing some punches worthy of a "Rocky"-style training montage. The robot can be seen punching some training pads worn by a human test subject — or victim — to the iconic soundtrack of the hit video game franchise "Mortal Kombat."
The robot is being controlled by a different engineer wearing a set of VR goggles nearby, translating the movements of his VR controllers directly to Nadia's arms and legs via a tether.
In other words, it's essentially a one-to-one scale version of the giant robotic avatars being piloted in "Pacific Rim" — and we can't tell if we're terrified or not.
Throwing Punches
Apart from being able to throw punches, Boardwalk Robotics claims on its website that Nadia has "some of the highest ranges of motion in its 29 joints of any humanoid robot in the world."
Thanks to"low latency VR teleoperation," a human operator has "full control for even the most challenging manipulation tasks."
Earlier this month, IHMC Robotics released a separate video of Nadia tackling a complex terrain, effortlessly navigating over hurdles made of concrete bricks.
According to the company's website, the robot could be "useful in firefighting, disaster response, and other scenarios that might be dangerous for humans."
And just in case somebody needs a good old-fashioned beatdown, the latest video suggests that Nadia will be glad to oblige at that as well.
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