Alaskan Dork Builds Flame Thrower Wielding Mecha i

[tuckerfan]

To quote Dave Barry, "You <i>can't</i> make this stuff up, people!<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p> As Carlos Owens Jr. envisions it, the humanoid machine he's building will shoot nine-inch nails from the shoulders and 20-foot flames from the forearms. "You've got to have flame-throwers!" he says.<br /><br />The red backlit eyes of his 18-foot hydraulic mecha - please don't call it a robot - will glow, but they're just for show. Five cameras will be the real eyes, allowing the operator riding inside the steel contraption to see via a laptop computer and flatscreen monitor rigged inside.<br /><br />When it's all done, he'll have a walking exoskeleton that will make him stronger than a grizzly bear, he said. So what if this is the stuff of science fiction fantasies?<br /><br />"I'm 110 percent positive this will work," the soft-spoken apprentice ironworker said during a recent break from the all-consuming project taking shape in his parent's back yard. "Failure is not an option. I have no choice but to do this. If I don't do it, I will explode."<br /><br />So great is his confidence that Owens, 27, already has arranged to debut his mecha at a demolition show where it will bash cars this summer at a local racetrack just north of Anchorage.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote>Yow!

 

[vogon13]

I wonder if he would consider a gig in Fallujah? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[davp99]

This reminds of that guy who started building armor type suits to repel Bear Attacks..he had his friends with baseball bats tee off on him, and ram him with tree trunks, then cars, and the like, The Funniest thing is he never found a bear to actually test his Suit.... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="4">Dave..</font> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Cool. I don't think the guys a dork. I think he's inspired. How many people get down and build exoskeletons in their back yards? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[claywoman]

I know I've got a good imagination I have to, I'm a writer, but I can tell you amongst my various writing friends, none of them has ever thought of making an exoskeleton!!!!

 

[nacnud]

Aliens springs to mind.

 

[Aetius]

As long as he hooks up with some chick who likes anime, he'll be all set. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[grooble]

Well these will be in the military eventually. Japan wanted to build 20ft high mech warriors but the USA wouldn't allow them to.<br />