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Watch a Giant Robotic Suit Get Demolished

Watching a chainsaw sword cut through a giant robot is cathartic as hell.

Giant fighting robots are fast becoming a reality. Just take a look at Megabots, the American robotics team that challenged the Japan-based startup Suidobashi Heavy Industry to a life-sized Rock 'em Sock 'em boxing duel over a year ago. Megabots has a variety of nasty weapons it could use for this duel, in a new video, tests the robotic arsenal a (thankfully inanimate) object.

After fans on Kickstarter met the $500,000 goal for upgrades, Megabots started girding their mechanical loins, testing five weapons against a mock KURATOS, their Suidobashi robot opponent: a 12-foot-high, 9000-pound bot that could hold a starring role in Pacific Rim 2. Here's a rundown of the weapons seen in the video.

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The trencher, aka the "Chain of Command," is a giant chainsaw attached to a tractor. It's super effective! The saw teeth beat the (considerably flimsy) cockpit door in, exposing the dummy pilot inside.

The stump grinder takes its turn next, earning the nickname "The Dentist," for flinging its own teeth away along with huge chunks of the KURATOS proxy. Two weapons in, and they're running out of robot to battle.

The grapple, named "Justice," struggles to do more than gently hug the robot's sides, but it's able to rip off an arm. A tree shear cuts through the sheet metal of the cockpit and dents up one of the hydraulic legs, but both of these tools require too much ground guidance. Unless they're planning to put a human on the ground the heat of mechanical battle, they're too clumsy. A drill auger finally bites in and takes the weakened bot to its knees.

Now that they know which weapons to bring to their giant robot fight club, they can move forward to developing a balancing system and getting a new paint job. It may feel like the last thing the world needs right now is an international weaponized duel, but leave a little room in your heart for the joy of giant robot battles.

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