
The Robotex AH. - Image from a video produced by Terry Izumi
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One would think
this was right out of a science fiction movie, but a 25-year-old man, Adam Gettings, a self-taught engineer with assistance from shotgun maker Jerry Baber and ex-Disney imagineer Terry Izumi, has created a remote-controlled, two-foot tall robot that can navigate rocky terrain, climb stairs, and roll through a foot of water, moving at an average of 10 MPH and shooting 300 rounds per minute.
The robots, called Robotex AH, would cost approximately $30,000 per machine and they will be attempting to sell them to the U.S. government.
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Fortune tells us that this product went from idea to product in six months, which definitely would concern the military with testing phases to find kinks before ever trying to use one is actual combat.
After the creation of the robot, friends of Baber's from Blackwater, the security contractor, contacted him, told him about Robotex and he contacted them and they all met.
That is how this robot was outfitted with $8,000 Atchisson Assault-12 shotgun was fresh off the assembly line after a dozen years in development.
It's made of aircraft-grade stainless steel, never needs lubrication or cleaning, and won't rust. Pour sand through it and it won't clog. It doesn't recoil, so it's accurate even when it's firing in automatic mode, which it does at a rate of 300 rounds per minute.
There is already a similar robot, the Talon, being tested in Iraq that costs six times the amount of this one.