Because of course they are.
AI generated video here:
NGL - I kinda want to run around on an AI robot panther. Can we get 4 more, paint them different colors, and merge them into a giant robot? That would be sweet!
I’m a cowboy… On a steel horse I ride!
Wasn’t the ATV invented because it covered most off-road situations to get around quicker?
I can’t wait to ride this shit into battle.
Monkey paw curls
“…it is now the 12th year of the 2nd American Civil war. The 3rd Roboticized Cavalry of Free America rode yesterday onto Texan soil, assisting Mexican forces in deterring Trumpanic Raiders from the fledging Mexican territory. Casualties were moderate, but sustainable…”
I’m waiting for the laser sword as a standard option. It’s always a bad idea to buy the first model anyway, and you know it’s coming. I mean who in their right mind rides a robot horse without a light sabre?
I’m sorry but we already have horses. Things we don’t have which should be ridable are things like spiders, mice, sausages, millipedes, cats etc. Make one of those!
edit: looks like it walks more like a cat than a horse. I guess we’re getting a cat.
That’s what I was thinking. 2nd thought: Does it come in green?
It’s a Kawasaki. So yes, yes it will
I see right to repair nightmare. It’s basically disposable.
- Ask your shade tree mechanic about fixing this one.
- I have one that has been sitting in my garage for three years untouched and won’t start - best offer
- it rides fine there is just a small screeching sound in reverse
- sometimes it powers off suddenly and collapses at 30 MPH
- previous owner used it on the snow/beach
- it fell in the pool once
- it doesn’t have a charger
- it gets really hot while charging
If every instance above is not a giant red flag you’d walk away from, I have a great deal on a bridge to sell you. It is a novelty at best and worthless on any second hand market other than the dealer itself which is basically slavery for the average person. There is not a single standardized part that can be second sourced on such a toy. When the manufacturer no longer supports it, the thing will be disposable. So from a dystopian burn down the world perspective this is a great leap forward. Super cool concept, but unless there is real universal parts standardisation and the thing is fully open sourced, this is like everything that is wrong with the world right now; neo feudalism.
Kawasaki has a well established dealer network, I don’t see support from them as being the primary issue.
If Kawasaki motorcycles are anything to go by working on their products yourself isn’t an issue. You can get the full workshop manual and do everything yourself.
And fell in a pool? You might drive your car into the ocean. Better give up on cars.
Microwave your phone? Useless!
Shoot your dog? Planned obsolescence!
This isn’t internal combustion. Every motor drive will be unique. Robotics are nothing like cars or motorcycles. I’m excellent at working on cars. I’m pretty good with electronics. I mean my bedroom is a Maker lab set up for design and etching my own circuit boards and I have messed around with robotics a bit. I have also ported heads for nostalgia drag, pit for unlimited class sprint, and owned an auto body shop building my hotrod stuff on the side and owned a couple bikes.
I’m saying, in the real world, shit happens and that adds intelligent perspective on how you’d look at a thing like this when real world stuff has happened. It is hyperbolic for illustrative purpose.
Such a complex system will inevitably be connected to the internet. Anything that needs dealer support as a crutch is not owned by the end user. If this is not fully transparent and open from the start, it is a means of exploitation. Only fools trust others to do the right thing or care about track records so far. That is feudalism and will result in the dark ages exactly like it did in the past. There is no reason for any consumer to trust-, if an honest product is sold. Honest products are completely open source, and parts can be second sourced from an independent vendor unrelated to the manufacturer, and anyone can potentially replicate the parts and sell them. There cannot be any single choke point where if some asshat quits supporting or goes out of business, the hardware that people paid for fails. Trust inevitable leads to this stupidity, and to exploitation of the built in leverage. It is corporate piracy in the end, and that has to stop.
All of this faff, expense, and heartache and you’d still have something less effective, less green, less yours, and more expensive than an actual horse.
Horses are incredibly expensive to house and maintain. I wouldn’t bet on this being more, when you’re not using it you can just stash it in your garage for as long as you want without having to worry about it.
One site gave an estimate of £3k/yr in annual upkeep to keep one in basic grass livery. A horse costs about £3-4k as well. A lifetime of, let’s say 25 years? That’s a total lifetime spend of £78k.
Let’s also remember that we’re talking this seriously about an AI generated video of a concept vehicle. No robot horse exists and none will in the near future.
But, it’s boring to just say “thing no happen”, so in the interest of conversation, what do you speculate the robot horse would cost, if they eventually managed to make a production model? Do you think it’d last as long as a real horse?
Based on what we know about the Boston Dynamics Robot Dog, which last time I checked started at $75,000, I’d expect this to be similar. It’s not automomous so that would make it cheaper, but it also needs to be robust enough to carry a person which adds cost.
Spot is small though, scaling up to rideable size won’t be cheap.
Yeah, but you don’t have to feed it and dispose of poop. :)
It eats grass and uh
I think it craps there too
They state that each leg has it’s own motor so there would have to be some kind of standardization there.
I can’t imagine electric motors being THAT hard to swap out, I mean, my wheelchair has two of them and they’re user replacable. (Right hand motor and Left hand motor being separate units).
I’m not sure about user REPAIRABLE, that’s a different deal, but at a minimum user replacable.
https://www.electricwheelchairsusa.com/products/iq-7000-replacement-motors
It is quite a bit different in robotics like this. Check out James Bruton on YT for a practical example of open source larger robotics. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUbDcUPed50Y_7KmfCXKohA
The motors used are almost always brushless because of the speeds accuracy and torque required. That means everything has software and electronics. This stuff gets very complicated fast. Most traditional auto makers are also outsourcing most of their software development and certainly not full stack or ground up oriented. This kind of thing needs to be designed from the start with every potential feature and future thing as part of the initial project. These types of things cannot be expanded easily. Like this is why China is actually good at EVs because they invested in building the whole thing from the bottom up the right way, instead of hack patching garbage and outsourcing.
Westworld here we come
It looks like a panther to me.
I don’t think they meant THAT kind of “ride”.
Begun the mech was has.
This is a concept for a hydrogen powered robot for 2050. There is no shot they’re developing this and even if they are it’s literally a quarter of a century from now. This is just marketing BS.
Looks like an AI-generated article to me. That “vehicle” looks more like a baboon than a horse; just look at the butt.
I would have linked directly to the Kawasaki site, but it’s less news article and more promotional:
https://www.khi.co.jp/expo2025/concept01/index_en.html
Physical reveal here… but more of a model.
Favorite line from that video: “the user rides it like a horse, but its movement is way more dynamic and life like”.
Horse in the corner: cries
I’d take the actual press release and promotional material over AI slop any and every fuckin day personally speaking.
It looks like an overweight darpa dog.
As someone who owns a Kawasaki motorcycle and has been very pleased with their sales and service staff: won’t touch that thing. I don’t even know how/where one would refuel the thing; I’ve not seen hydrogen Stations anywhere here in japanJapan so far despite various automakers talking about it.
Yeah, you’d need a specialized service for it. Locally we have these places:
https://www.airgas.com/product/Gases/Hydrogen/p/HY AZ1300SMT
What for?
horizon zero dawn live action adaptation
All terrain mobility.
Then make it a form that’s suited for transport? Horse/panther form is primarily suited for animal, not for transport. I don’t know, maybe legs you can bolt to a container?
Giddyup Buttercup is gonna sue for patent infringement.
Finally
Worse horses
worses
first thing I thought of.
Kawahorsey
Good riddens
I’m so angry I have to upvote this.
