The Eagle Prime: Incredible 16ft fighting megabot unveiled

At first glance, you might mistake this enormous robot for a character from the latest Transformers blockbuster.

But the 16 foot (five metre) tall machine is a robot called Eagle Prime that is ready to take on Japan in the Megabots Giant Robot Dual league.

An incredible video has been released which shows the Eagle Prime in action ahead of the dual - which will be the world's first giant robot battle -  taking place this month.

At first glance, you might mistake this enormous robot for a character from the latest Transformers blockbuster. But the 16 foot (five metre) tall machine is a robot called Eagle Prime that is ready to take on Japan in the Megabots Giant Robot Dual league

The robot has been created by San Francisco-based MegaBots, who set up the Giant Robot Dual league in 2015.

On its website, MegaBots said: 'MegaBots uses cutting-edge robotics technology to create the giant piloted fighting robots of science fiction, videogames and movies.

'These robots fight in epic-scale arena combat the likes of which the world has never seen before.'

The Eagle Prime stands at 16 feet (five metres tall), weighs 12 tons, and has 430 horsepower.

A human operator sits within the 'head' of the humanoid robot, controlling its movements.

Despite its enormous size, Eagle Prime is faster than you might think.

In the video, the enormous robot can be seen opening giant garage doors, quickly manouvering corners, demolishing piles of barrels and even blasting targets with its paintball cannon.

MegaBots said: 'As the robots battle, armour panels shear off and litter the field, smoke and sparks pour out of the chassis, massive robotic limbs tear off, and robots crumple to the ground until only one is left standing.'

In 2015, MegaBots challenged Japan to a giant robot dual, and a team of experts from the country quickly accepted.

The Eagle Prime robot stands at 16 feet (five metres tall), weighs 12 tons, and has 430 horsepower

A human operator sits within the 'head' of the humanoid robot, controlling its movements during the battle

Japan's robot is called Kurata. 

In 2015, the team revealed an early version of the robot, that included a gun capable of shooting 6,000 BB bullets a minute. 

But since, the Japanese team has not released any information or images of the machine that will take part in the dual against the US.

MEET JAPAN'S KURATAS 

Kuratas can be operated using a 'Master-Slave system' where users control the robot's movements from outside using any device with a 3G network.

It weighs 9,000 pounds and is controlled by a pilot in the cockpit or remotely using a smartphone or tablet.

They can also step inside the suit to control its movements in the same way as exoskeletons are used for fictional characters such as Iron Man.

Overall, the robot has around 30 hydraulic joints which the pilot moves using motion control. It comes in 16 colors, including black and pink.

Currently Kuratas is not capable of walking, but is able to drive at 6mph (10 km/h)

It can also be fitted with a futuristic weapons system, including a gun capable of shooting 6,000 BB bullets a minute, which fires when the pilot smiles.

'Automatic alignment allows you to lock on your enemy target. Kuratas will not allow any targets to escape,' the company writes.

'With the alignment set appropriately the system will fire BBs when the pilot smiles.'

Realizing that there may be a flaw with this system of opening fire, a video warns the pilot against smiling too much while operating the Kuratas weaponry.

However, there is another major caveat.

The robot is advertised as a kit, which means whoever buys it will also have to put it together. 

In May, Chinese robotics company GREATMETAL also announced that it too was joining the battle, unveiling its massive 'Monkey King' robot to take on the US and Japan.

The quadrupedal, single-seat machine takes on the form of a monkey and weighs more than 8,000 pounds (four tonnes) – and a video has suggested that the robot is equipped with a rotating head.

The enormous robots have several cameras on the exterior, allowing the human controller inside to change its movements

As the robots battle, armour panels shear off and litter the field, smoke and sparks pour out of the chassis, massive robotic limbs tear off, and robots crumple to the ground until only one is left standing

Its creator, Shiqian Sun, said it took about two months to complete to this point, New Atlas reported.

Although China is gearing up for battle, MegaBots is still deciding whether to allow the Monkey King to join the competition.

A specific date for the battle has not yet announced, but MegaBots says it will be this month.  

The Eagle Prime robot looks very similar to many of the machines featured in the Transformers blockbusters

THE MONKEY KING 

Chinese robotics company GREATMETAL has unveiled its robot to take on America's MegaBots and Japan's Kuratas.

Called the Monkey King, this robot is able to fight while on two legs and also on all-fours.

Chinese robotics company GREATMETAL has unveiled its robot to take on America's MegaBots and Japan's Kuratas

The quadrupedal, single-seat machine takes on the form of a monkey and weighs more than 8,000 pounds (4 tonnes). 

And a leaked video has suggested that the robot is equipped with a rotating head.