When future historians try to figure out where the robot uprising began, most of the evidence will point to Kickstarter. And when they squint at faded photos and tattered films, attempting to uncover the primary mechanical belligerents, they’ll spot this little guy… retreating hastily from every engagement.
Sure, the OutRunner from Robotics Unlimited won’t be firing any surface-to-air missiles or impaling tanks any time soon, but if you want to chase cats or scare small children, this is the machine for you.
The OutRunner can get up to 32km/h and has a battery that lasts two hours, which is a decent amount of endurance. Two models are on offer — “Core” and “Performance”. The latter is the more capable version, offering control via RC or smartphone and packs a camera, wireless and various sensors (most of which can be purchased as upgrades for the Core model).
It’s got an interesting look to it (if a little creepy) and I could see how hobbyists might want to race each other, seeing whose improvements result in the faster robot. Other than that, I’m struggling to come up with other uses for it. At any rate, you’ll need to cough up $US249 to get the basic kit, unassembled.
The project is currently sitting on $US22,035 of its lofty $US150,000 goal, with 21 days to go, though Kicktraq reckons it’ll miss its target by a fair margin.
[Kickstarter, via DVICE]