Guinness World Records, recently, released their 2014 World Records. One of the more amazing (not that most records aren’t amazing) records is the achievement of the Zollner Group out of Germany. They have built the worlds largest walking robot, and its powered by a 2.0 TDI engine!

Coming in at 4.3 Tons this amazing, walking robot isn’t just a design exercise. It was built for the Drachenstich-Festspiele (slaying of the Dragon) in Furth im Wald. This is the oldest German folk spectacle dating back 500 years. The fire breathing dragon is a key component in this play.

Construction started in 2007 and was finally completed in 2010. This dragon is able to walk, shoot flames out its mouth and nose, flaps it wings, move it tail, eyes etc. Controlled by 4 people outside of the dragon with remote controls, everything is self-contained within.

This 50 x 13 foot behemoth is powered by a Volkswagen 2.0l TDI engine out of one of their production cars. To control the engine, VW opted to wire and run one of their industrial ECU’s on this. After tuning the engine, it is able to produce the 125 KW (roughly 167 horsepower) that the engineering group wanted. The actual hydraulics and controls within Tradinno (the name of the dragon, comes from Innovation and Tradition being combined) require 85 KW (114 hp).

Below is a list of the specs on the robot.

Technical data sheet

Tradinno

• Length: 15,50 m – 50.85 feet
• Width: 3,80 m — 13.47 feet
• Wingspan: 12,00 m – 39.37 feet
• Height: 4,50 m – 14.76 feet
• Weight: 11,0 t (davon 1 t Hautgewicht)
• Drive unit: 2,0 l (Turbodiesel)
• Max. driving power: 103 kW (140 PS)
• Max. torque: 350 Nm
• Engine speed: 2300 U/Min
• Diesel tank: 43 l
• Max. speed: 1,8 km/h
• Power generators: 3 (1 x 12V, 2 x 24V)
• Pneumatic compressor: 1
• Hydraulic oil: 165 l
• Hydraulic control pumps: 2
• Hydraulic gear pumps: 2
• Hydraulic circuit: 2
• High pressure: 220 bar
• Low pressure: 80 bar
• Hydraulic drives:: 50
• Hydraulic valves: 272
• Hydraulic servo valves: 43
• Pneumatic drives: 10
• Electrical drives: 12
• Mobile, animated axles: 65
• Angle-of-rotation sensors: 49
• Length measuring sensors: 39
• Force measuring sensors: 4
• Tilt sensors: 2 Stück (2 x 2 axles)
• Hydraulic lines: 272 rm
• Electric cables: 1,300 rm
• Pneumatic lines: 110 rm
• Stage blood: 80 l
• Lycopodium: 1.6 kg
• Liquid gas: 11 kg
• Operation: 4 radio remote controls