Isao Machii is a bona fide samurai and sword master who holds five Guinness World Records and is the embodiment of incredible concentration, discipline, and precision. Recently, Machii took on a Motoman MH24 robotic sword arm in a Senbongiri, or 1,000 cuts battle. Motoman MH24 was created by Yaskawa Electric, a global manufacturer of servo drives, motors, AC drives, robotics, controllers and network controls. The project is named Yaskawa Bushido Project.
IndustryTap reported late last year on ABB’s robotic samurai swordsman in Industrial Robot Katana Fight, but the Yaskawa Bushido Project modeled its robot samurai on the motions of a real-life master samurai.
The Motoman MH24 was designed and built with the help of Namiki Lab at Chiba University near Tokyo.
In the competition between Machii and Motomon MH24, the robot beat his samurai master in speed and accuracy.
The project is detailed in a paper, “Development of a Sword-Fighting Robot Controlled by High-Speed Vision.” In short, researchers analyzed Machii’s sword motions and techniques in 3D and then reproduced the movements in the industrial robot. Cutting motions included diagonal cuts, horizontal cuts, rising cuts and a 1,000 cut sequence.
