A robotic samurai, dubbed Motoman-mh24, has recently battled it out with human samurai master Machii Isao (a.k.a. the real fruit ninja) - a five-time Guinness World Record holder. The two martial arts masters competed in a series of iaido tests, slicing horizontally through a variety of inanimate objects, from rows of oranges to bunches of flowers.
The spectacular event was performed as part of the Yaskawa Bushido Project - Yaskawa Electric Corporation being a Japanese corporation at the forefront of industrial robotics. Creating Motoman-mh24 was no easy task, with engineers copycatting Machii’s masterful moves to afford Motoman the same abilities.
The team strapped Machii into a motion detection suit to follow his every katana-wielding move. Once recorded, the same movements were programmed into Yaskawa’s ninja robot, essentially allowing the machine to mimic Machii’s incredible move set.
Evidently, the cameraman - who elected to sport a suit of armor during the making of the video - was a little wary of Motoman’s newfound skills. The Japanese robotics company added the finished video to YouTube on June 4, showing Motoman matching Machii, move for move.