ReCore robot dog Mack is brought to life by UK firm

mack, recore, xbox

Man’s best friend has become an engineer’s best friend after a UK company built a fully working version of the robot dog in ReCore.

Mack, as the canine is known, plays a key role in the new Xbox game, helping heroine Joule Adams solve puzzles and fight enemies on a ravaged world in the early 2200s.

Robo Challenge, a family-run creative company based in Birmingham, was asked to build an exact replica of Mack that can also move.

“Mack is a really interesting character, he’s critical to the game. We looked at how we could make him and then custom-made all the parts. It was a really good challenge,” said managing director James Cooper, who runs Robo Challenge with his father and brother.

Mack took a team of five people around a month to build, as the company had to overcome issues with the size of the robot and making it as realistic as possible.

output_euwonp

“Originally, we thought Mack was only going to be a foot tall. Then, when we got some scale drawings, we realised he was about four feet tall. But he had to be identical to Mack in the game, otherwise it would ruin the illusion.

“Internally he’s made from steel. We made sure we got the right sort of motors to get him to move at a certain speed, and we built custom gearboxes that go down to each joint. Once that was all meshed together and we had him moving, we started designing the bodywork. It took six 3D printers around 1,000 hours to produce the bodywork, which then had to be sanded, polished and assembled. Lastly, we added all the LEDs, and had lenses specially 3D printed for his eyes. Then there were two days of airbrushing and getting all the details on Mack right.”

Mack has since become a minor celebrity, attracting fans from the world of tech, gaming and 3D printing. He now sits in the entrance to Robo Challenge’s workshop, where the team also designed and built the house robots on BBC’s Robot Wars – Sir Killalot, Matilda, Shunt and Dead Metal.

James, 31, and his brother Grant, 28, are also keen Xbox gamers, and thought ReCore was “very good”. It is the first title to be released under Xbox’s Play Anywhere initiative, which allows people to buy the game on either Xbox or Windows 10 and play it on both platforms. Game progress, downloadable content – including add-ons, Season Passes, consumables and in-game unlocks, Gamerscore and achievements – are all saved on Xbox Live, so you can pick up where you left off on another Xbox One or Windows 10 PC.

Mike Rapson, Xbox Games Category Manager, said: “Recore is a game about companionship. When the team started looking at ways to try to bring the story of Recore to life, we decided to really focus in on that theme. Nothing epitomises companionship better than man’s best friend, and it just so happens that in Recore, your K9 friend is a robot. Robo Challenge has been an incredible partner in this endeavour. The Mack they created exceeded our expectations.”.

Halo: Combat Evolved is released

November 15, 2001
Halo: Combat Evolved is released

Xbox launches

November 15, 2001
Xbox launches

733 MHz x86 Intel Celeron/Pentium III Custom Hybrid CPU 233 MHz nVidia custom GeForce 3 NV2A DirectX 8.0 based GPU 64 MB DDR SDRAM at 200 MHz dual-channel 128-bit configuration giving 6400 MB/s

Read more

Xbox Live is launched

November 15, 2002
Xbox Live is launched

Halo 2 is released

November 9, 2004
Halo 2 is released

Xbox 360 is launched

November 22, 2005
Xbox 360 is launched

New controller 3.2 GHz IBM PowerPC tri-core CPU codenamed “Xenon” 500 MHz ATi custom Radeon X1800 DirectX 9.0c based GPU codenamed “Xenos” 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM @ 700 MHz 22.4 GB/s, 10 MB EDRAM GPU frame buffer memory

Read more

Gears of War is released

November 7, 2006
Gears of War is released

Halo 3 is released

September 25, 2007
Halo 3 is released

Gears of War 2 is released

November 7, 2008
Gears of War 2 is released

Halo Wars is released

February 26, 2009
Halo Wars is released

Xbox Live adds Xbox 360 games for download

August 11, 2009
Xbox Live adds Xbox 360 games for download

Redesigned and thinner Xbox 360 is launched

June 14, 2010
Redesigned and thinner Xbox 360 is launched

Xbox 360 Kinect is launched

November 4, 2010
Xbox 360 Kinect is launched

Xbox 360 Kinect claims a Guinness World Record for the fastest-selling consumer electronics device ever, after selling eight million units in its first 60 days.

Read more

Gears of War 3 is released

September 20, 2011
Gears of War 3 is released

Windows version of Kinect is launched

February 1, 2012
Windows version of Kinect is launched

Surface RT is released

October 26, 2012
Surface RT is released

The Surface RT was launched alongside Windows 8

Read more

Halo 4 is released

November 6, 2012
Halo 4 is released

Surface Pro is launched

February 9, 2013
Surface Pro is launched

The Surface Pro featured a higher-resolution screen, a Surface Pen stylus for touch input and a full version of Windows 8.

Read more

Surface 2 available to buy

October 22, 2013
Surface 2 available to buy

Features an NVIDIA Tegra 4 Processor, 10.6-Inch ClearType Full HD Touchscreen Display, 2 GB RAM; 64 GB Storage Capacity (47 GB Available), Windows RT 8.1 and 24W Power Supply.  

Read more

Surface Pro 2 is released

October 22, 2013
Surface Pro 2 is released

Compared with the original Surface Pro, the Surface Pro 2 has improved hardware specifications, such as a next generation Haswell Intel Core processor and an increased number of storage options, improved versions of the kickstand and cover accessories.

Read more

Xbox One is launched with new controller and new Kinect

November 22, 2013
Xbox One is launched with new controller and new Kinect

1.75 GHz AMD x86-64 eight-core CPU codenamed “Jaguar” 853 MHz AMD Radeon HD 7000 series DirectX 11.1 based GPU codenamed “Durango” eight GB of DDR3 RAM @ 2133 MHz 68.3 GB/s, 32 MB ESRAM GPU frame buffer memory.

Read more

Surface Pro 3 is released

June 20, 2014
Surface Pro 3 is released

The Surface Pro 3 was announced on May 20, 2014, at a New York City event, pre-orders were opened on May 21, 2014, and the first models were released on June 20, 2014 in the US and Canada, with the Intel Core i3 and Intel Core i7 models released on August 1, 2014. The Surface Pro 3 was launched in 25 additional markets on August 28.

Read more

Surface 3 available to buy

May 5, 2015
Surface 3 available to buy

Microsoft Surface is built around a durable magnesium body that’s incredibly light and thin, so you’ll feel confident taking it anywhere. With up to 10 hours of video playback, a beautiful 10.8″ display and integrated Kickstand, Surface 3 is perfect for hands-free entertainment wherever you go.

Read more

Surface Hub released

July 1, 2015
Surface Hub released

The Surface Hub is a wall or roller-stand mounted device with either an 84 inches, 120 Hz 4K or a 55 inches 1080p touchscreen with multi-touch and multi-pen capabilities and runs Windows 10.

Read more

Surface Pro 4 is launched

October 26, 2015
Surface Pro 4 is launched

Surface Pro 4 is ultra-thin, fast and versatile, the perfect balance of portability and power. With 6th generation Intel Core processors and up to 1TB of storage, it’s built to run professional-grade software. And the PixelSense Display has stunning colour and contrast that comes to life with Surface Pen and touch. Simply connect your Surface Pro 4 to Surface Dock and use up to two high-resolution monitors,…

Read more

Surface Book available to buy

October 26, 2015
Surface Book available to buy

Surface Book is a powerful, thin laptop computer with a full-sized, backlit keyboard for fast and natural typing. The 13.5” PixelSense display detaches easily from the keyboard to become a thin, light tablet that works perfectly with OneNote and Surface Pen. Turn the screen around and reattach it to use Surface Book like a creative canvas. By reconnecting it to the keyboard, you unlock its full creative power in a pen first mode. With an optional discrete…

Read more

Halo 5: Guardians is released

October 27, 2015
Halo 5: Guardians is released

Halo 5: Guardians is released

Read more

Xbox One S is launched

August 2, 2016
Xbox One S is launched

Blu Ray / DVD RAM: 8GB DDR3 Clock: 2133MHz Bandwidth: 68.26 GB/s + 32MB eSRAM / Bandwidth: 204 GB/s(102 In/102 Out) 8GB flash memory CPU: 8 Core AMD custom CPU / Frequency: 1.75 GHz GPU: Clock Speed: 853 MHz / Shader Cores: 768 / Peak Throughput: 1.31 TFLOPS Storage: 500 GB (5400 rpm) hard drive non-replaceable, external hard drive support available Backwards compatibility HDMI input and output (4K support) API: DirectX 11.2  

Read more

Gears of War 4 is released

October 11, 2016
Gears of War 4 is released

Surface Studio launched

October 26, 2016
Surface Studio launched

Surface Studio is an new device designed for the creative process. Its roomy and adjustable 28-inch PixelSense Display provides a huge canvas for all kinds of work. Position it upright to sketch, paint and edit photos, or lay it flat to draw on it like a drafting table.

Read more

Surface Book i7 released

October 26, 2016
Surface Book i7 released

Surface Book is a powerful, thin laptop computer with a full-sized, backlit keyboard for fast and natural typing. The 13.5” PixelSense display detaches easily from the keyboard to become a thin, light tablet that works perfectly with OneNote and Surface Pen. Turn the screen around and reattach it to use Surface Book like a creative canvas. By reconnecting it to the keyboard, you unlock its full creative power in a pen first mode. With an optional discrete graphics chip, Surface Book can handle even…

Read more

Tags: , , , , ,

Related Posts