July 2, 2013 - Standing at nearly three meters tall, Mantis claims the title as the world's largest walking robot. The hexapod is able to transport people and loads while protecting the ground beneath it, thus making it suitable, amongst others, as an innovative means of transportation for rangers in national parks or other protected areas. Its creators can even imagine that Mantis will be able to explore the ocean floor via remote control in the future.
To create the giant robot, British company Micromagic Systems drew on their prior experience in making robots for the film industry: previous versions of the hexapod robot were featured as turtles in the Harry Potter movies. But the two-ton Mantis requires significantly more power in order to move. That's why Micromagic Systems uses hydraulic drives for the legs and relies on Bosch Rexroth's support for designing the energy-efficient drive solution.
