The Mantis Walking Machine

manits, mech, robot, walker, UK, sci-fi, movieOver the past four years, Matt Denton and a small team have slowly been putting together one of every nerd’s fondest dreams – the Mantis, a fully-functional robotic walking machine.

Pronounced “the biggest, all-terrain operational hexapod robot in the world” the Mantis stands 2.8 meters tall and weighs in at 1,700 kilograms. The menacing-looking mech runs on a Perkins 2.2 liter turbo diesel engine, and is supported by 6 hydraulically powered legs.

To control the Mantis, Denton and his team use two PCs, one running Linux and HexEngine – the software that control the 18 hydraulic actuators in the Mantis’s legs – while the other runs Windows CE and provides the operator interface.

manits, mech, robot, walker, UK, sci-fi, movie

According to Matt Denton, “This walking machine started as an idea back in 2007, we secured private funding in 2009 to start the project and – after three years of design, building and testing – the robot made a first successful test drive in the summer of 2012 at Bestival UK.”

Already considered a design classic and inspiration to the next generation of engineers by some, the Mantis is a testament to inspired creativity and engineering execution.

If you’d like to give the Mantis a spin then you’re in luck – the mech is available for “private hire, custom commissions, events and sponsorship.” No word yet on how much a private hire might cost, but I suspect many a movie studio will be giving Mr. Denton a call very soon.

Watch a Video of the Mantis in Action

Images and Video Courtesy of MicroMagic Systems