Carlos Owens wanted a giant metal robot that would mimic his movements while he sat inside it. And since no one was about to build him one, he built it himself.

This 18-foot-tall, one-ton prototype is his second stab at the project, the first being made of wood. This version was started in 2004, and it's made of steel with a system of cables and hydraulics inside to make it work.

Currently, it can raise its arms, bend its knees and apparently do situps, but it's not quite where he wants it to be. He's working on two more prototypes to make it lighter and more maneuverable. And while he dreams of it having military applications at some point, he's focusing on a goal much more up our ally in the near future: mecha-vs-mecha battles. Sign us up!

(Hope this picture loads for you.)

If the image to http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/06/giantmecha.jpg doesn't load for you, it looks like a transformers mech made from decent pieces of junkyard material and hydraulics, etcetera.

The creator's dream is to make a mecha that he can control based on his movements -- coincidentally much like an orbital frame/phantoma, except I think without the joysticks and the neurosensors (which by the way is becoming a reality; that is, where a computer can read signals from your brain and you can control a computer purely by mental command and thought).

Whats with the wierd hook thing... to keep it standing?

I doubt it, Probably there to hold it up while the builder fixes and builds.... I guess.

lol theres a like a warning sign in the middle of its chest