this
is a mechanized exoskeleton
mech for short if you've watched any
science fiction movies
you've probably seen something like this
before except no computer graphics or
camera tricks this time
this is the furion prosthesis all four
tons of it
in real life just don't call it a robot
because it's not controlled by a
computer this machine
requires a human pilot and this
is the man inside the mech
jonathan tippett an artist and inventor
has spent nearly 15 years perfecting
prosthesis
the mech evolved over time and sometimes
tibbetts vision was a step ahead of
reality
it became immediately apparent that
there was going to be a lot of falling
over
his vision is to build a fleet of
exosuits and launch a new
high-octane low-carbon sport x1 mech
racing
[Music]
it's late august at jonathan tippett's
mech ranch about an hour's drive outside
vancouver
wilson tang is about to strap into the
prosthesis mech for the very first time
um i describe jonathan as the backwoods
tony stark
you know through the years he's kind of
built some pretty amazing technology but
this is
the mech definitely takes the cake yeah
you guys better move away i'm going for
a world record
tang is an old friend of tippets but
these days
anyone can purchase the opportunity to
pilot the mac for about
2 500 canadian dollars and we want to
give you a chance
to strap in and try it for yourself
piloting the mech is kind of like dream
come true
i liken it to learning to snowboard it
sort of takes three days to get some
level of proficiency
step one disinfect these are light cells
this test drive is in the middle of a
global pandemic after all fresh scent
kills harmful germs next climb into the
pilot seat
uh very snug and um
very comfortable you know i've been
following jonathan's journey for
quite a few years now so this is kind of
like a culmination of
a long adventure that i've been kind of
going along with him so this is awesome
a long adventure indeed people ask me
what it costs to build prosthesis and i
say 14 years of my life
tippett's first mech had eight legs
instead of four
at that time i had a we had a mutual
friend who
told me hey you know you should meet
these guys they're building this
mechanical spider
called the mondo spider and that was
kind of where i cut my teeth designing
legs and
working at least at something like this
scale then tippett and his team of
volunteers
decided they needed to perfect the
mechanics of just one leg
we're a sports phenomenon
enabled by technology inspired by art
and a lot of the technology inside
prosthesis
is a combination of custom and existing
parts
the frame is made from a high
performance steel alloy common in race
cars and aerospace vehicles racing grade
shocks are the same you'd find in an
off-road truck
and the mech is 100 electric its nearly
800 pound battery is protected from the
elements and can run the mech for up to
an hour on a single charge
in 2015 prosthesis struck a deal with
furion a technology company that makes
home appliances
but also designs concept vehicles like
elysium an
rv with a helipad an adonis a luxury
yacht with an ai concierge
but mech racing is still far from
becoming a sport
prosthesis is still the only mech of its
kind it would probably cost about one
and a half to two million dollars to
reproduce this thing
and any new pilot must complete a three
to four day training just to get the
basics
and then back down and much longer than
that to master the controls
beautiful that's amazing he's up
i'm surprised by how physical the
physicality of the experience
so i now totally understand why you've
always described this sport
i i think you got it i think you got it
you probably won't be watching mech
racing on television anytime
soon and tippet is not aggressively
pursuing other commercial
applications like deploying mechs on a
construction site the immediate
value of this machine is in the human
experience
in the same way that a snowboard is not
practical or a windsurfer is not
practical
on the other hand different tech enabled
sports have sprung up in recent years
there are drone racing leagues and
battlebots so far tipit's mech has
surmounted financial troubles
bad publicity even a global pandemic
but nothing can stand between this man
and a future filled with human-powered
exoskeletons
i get goosebumps talking about it still
like it's just oh it's gonna be so
amazing it's gotta happen and we have
the technology and now we are
so many steps closer and people are
starting to like realize how exciting
that's going to be
so it's just i stopping doesn't even
cross my mind
[Music]
you