Introducing Mantis, the gigantic hexapod robot you can drive
British firm Micromagic Systems has unveiled what it claims to be the biggest all-terrain operational hexapod robot in the world.
The product of more than four years' intensive R&D, the Mantis Hexapod weighs in at a staggering 1,900kg, stands 2.8m tall and is powered by a Perkins 2.2 litre turbo diesel engine and hydraulics.
"This is definitely the largest hexapod we have built so far," said Micromagic founder and Mantis' chief designer Matt Denton. "It's been called an instant design classic and an inspiring engineering project for the next generation."
Denton first came up with the idea for the hexapod in 2007. The company secured private funding in 2009 to start the project and – after three years of design, build and testing – the robot made a first successful test drive in the summer of 2012 at Bestival UK.
You can view the Mantis in action in the video below.
