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August 4, 2006

Friday Squid Blogging: Giant Robotic Squid

...on July 18, a group of Hakodate residents made an official announcement regarding plans to create a giant robotic squid for the city.
[...]

...cutting-edge technology...will allow the robot to be controlled remotely via the Internet.

[...]

...the entire body of squid robot will be covered in lights that blink as the robot moves. In addition, the robot will be equipped with a set of wireless receivers and will have its own homepage featuring a set of controls that allow remote users to move the robot's tentacles and eyes.

The developers plan for the robot to stand 5 meters (16 feet) in height. After an initial 1.5-meter prototype is completed this November, work will begin on the larger final version, which the group aims to unveil in a parade at the Hakodate Port Festival in the summer of 2007.

[...]

The total cost of the robot is expected to be somewhere in the 30 million yen range (US$250,000).

Tags: squid

Posted on August 4, 2006 at 4:24 PM • 7 Comments

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Comments

Steve Adams • August 4, 2006 4:46 PM

> ...will allow the robot to be controlled remotely via the Internet

Dang! Imagine controlling a botnet made up of these things. Now _that's_ a movie plot.

Israel Torres • August 4, 2006 4:53 PM

We all know it would have been much cooler if it transformed from a squid into "Squid-a-tron Submergius : Defender of Squidom and adversary of Fish-E.R. MAN" at the click of a button. Then during the parade have a transforming battle as techno pounds the ports of Hakodate!

Israel Torres

Israel Torres • August 4, 2006 4:57 PM

@Steve Adams
"Dang! Imagine controlling a botnet made up of these things. Now _that's_ a movie plot."

It was a movie plot in Matrix 1, 2, 3.
They were called Sentinels.

Israel Torres

another_bruce • August 6, 2006 12:50 PM

this thing is still no match for godzilla.

dr.bomb • August 6, 2006 3:28 PM

Oooh! Real-life "squiddies". I'd be more impressed if they built and perfected the hovercraft technology first. ;->

Dr Weevil • August 7, 2006 11:21 AM

@Israel -

It's not the Matrix until they get the friggin' laser beams.

Jon • August 8, 2006 2:14 PM

Imagine some hacker programming the squid to bitch slap the Mayor of Hakodate at its unveiling.

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