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La Princesse Mechanical Spider
La Princesse is a giant mechanical spider currently having its way with Liverpool in England. It is fifty feet high and can walk over crowds and, with the help of a crane, can scale buildings.
(La Princesse mechanical spider in Liverpool)
At 7.36pm, a giant yellow leg appeared from behind a building at the end of Salthouse Dock and a crowd who had been growing increasingly restive after standing for 90 minutes in the pouring rain screamed and shouted...There were more squeals: some of apprehension, others of sheer joy. The spider, named La Princesse, is the brainchild of François Delarozière and his company La Machine, who over the past 15 years have engineered a host of mechanical animals including the glorious Sultan's Elephant that made London smile in 2006.
La Princesse is a big girl, weighing 37 tonnes, and a marvel of engineering. She has 50 hydraulic axes of movement, took a year to build, and trundles along the road at two miles an hour.
I wouldn't call this a prediction, but it did remind me of the Tachikoma spiders from Ghost in the Shell; below we see Tachikoma's poised to jump from the side of a building, after climbing most of the way to the top.
(Tachikoma robot spider tank)
Source: Liverpool spider 37 tonnes and a marvel of engineering.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/7/2008)
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