12,000-pound megabot built in Bay Area prepares for robot battle

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- On the big screen, you've seen giant robots ready for battle but one massive piece of metal in the Bay Area isn't for the movies.

The Mark 2 is a 15-foot, 12,000-pound megabot. It's the brainchild of Matt Oehrlein and his co-builder, Gui Cavalcanti.

It's inspired by their childhood. "We played these video games and we had these dreams of actually being these pilots in these giant fighting robots and we wanted to make that a reality," Oehrlein said.

It's armed with a battery of 20 rapid-fire air guns and a massive paintball cannon.

It looks like it was built for war, but ABC7 News was told it's really just built for fun.

Oehrlein says some of their technology could be used for future tools in industries like mining or construction.

Before anyone has visions of this robot going haywire like you may have seen in science fiction movies, Oehrlein says that won't happen with the Mark 2.

"These don't make any autonomous decisions on their own. They're not going to fire their weapons on their own. It still takes a pilot to pull the trigger. All of that. There's still a human in the loop," he said.

But it is built for robot-to-robot combat, so they've challenged the makers of a Japanese megabot to a battle.

"They want melee combat. And so now we need to re-outfit our robot so it can withstand hand-to-hand combat with another giant robot," Oehrlein said.

They want to raise $500,000 dollars to engineer punching mechanisms and a better safety cage.

"There is some element of danger in this whole operation," Oehrlein said. When asked if he's OK with that, he responded, "We feel that it brings a tremendous entertainment value."

The showdown is planned for next year.