CES Is The Wild Wild West, Which Explains This Massive 1600lb Mechanical Spider

Jordan Crook

Jordan Crook studied English Literature at New York University before entering the tech space. Prior to joining TechCrunch, Crook dabbled in mobile marketing and mobile apps as well as doing device reviews for MobileMarketer and MobileBurn. Crook is fascinated with alternative energy production and greentech. She is now a writer for CrunchGear. Hello → Learn More

Friday, January 11th, 2013
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CES covers over 1.9 million square feet of the Las Vegas desert, and walking up and down the various lanes of gadget goodness can be hard on the old dogs. Luckily, we discovered this massive mechanical spider walking machine that does all the work for you.

After all, it does have eight legs to my two.

The Mondo Spider, as it were, is a project out of the Eat Art Foundation used to teach kids (and CES attendees) about zero-emissions technology in a more stimulating way.

It was built by a team of artists and engineers out of Vancouver in 2006, and was eventually commissioned to switch to electrical energy in 2009, making it a much quieter, safer, and less smelly toy.

In fact, the 1600lb spider is the world’s first zero-emission walking vehicle.

And if that weren’t enough, it’s about as close as you can get to actually being Dr. Arliss Lovelice in the Wild Wild West, crusading through the desert on a massive metal spider. Of course, the Mondo and Dr. Loveless’ contraption have one very important difference.

The Mondo is a hero, not a villain.