TOKYO, June 5 — A Guinness World Records-winning master swordsman. The world’s most advanced industrial robot. Give them both katanas and you get one heck of a video.
Motion control robotics company Yaskawa Electronics is celebrating its centennial anniversary. What better way to commemorate it than by a video that highlights its top-end Motoman-MH24 robot? The company enlisted swordmaster Isao Machii, who holds five Guinness World Records including for the fastest 1,000 iado sword cuts record – making 1,000 cuts in just 36 minutes and four seconds.
The MH24 and Machii were pitted in a traditional contest of swordsmanship: senbongiri, a challenge to see who can perform 1,000 cuts in the least amount of time.
Both the robot and Machii were surrounded by (in this case) a manmade bamboo grove and to make it even more authentic, the MH24 was equipped with a real katana, made in the Edo period. Machii even helped Yaskawa tweak MH24’s swing speed and angle so that the robot could convincingly slice through bamboo.
Watch the video and marvel at the intricacies of both traditional Japanese bushido and modern robotics.
