(Photo courtesy of Panasonic)

Karin Stanton | Hawaii 24/7 Editor

The Evolta Robot hit T2 about 7 p.m. Thursday, the batteries were swopped from the bike robot to the run robot and it took off on the marathon leg of the Ironman triathlon course.

Robot creator Tomotaka Takahashi wheeled the infra-red beam in front of the little guy as they left the transition area, making their way through a small crowd of spectators. They are certain to be in tons of vacation photos!

One lady trotted alongside for a spell, waving American and Japanese flags.

By 11 p.m., the robots had completed about 116 miles of the 142-mile triathlon course, with the run along Alii Drive, out to NELHA and back into town still to come.

The robot is projected to hit the famed start / finish line at Kailua Pier later in the day on Sunday.

(Photo courtesy of Panasonic)

Among the Tweets from Thursday:

* Everyone from Mauna Lani Bay Hotel cheered me on and they even prepared a water station for us! Thanks so much!!

* Found an encouraging message along the sidewalk!! THANX!!!

* Lava stones make earth look like another planet. Haven’t been to other planets though.

* A lady who came to cheer me on the first day came to cheer me on again! So sweet.

The Evolta Robots are taking on one of the world’s toughest Ironman courses this week, following more than 1,900 triathletes who competed earlier this month at the Ironman World Championship.

Built by Takahashi, the trio of robots are specifically designed to tackle each of the three triathlon disciplines. The swimmer robot finished the 2.4-mile ocean swim about 90 minutes ahead of schedule Sunday evening.

The challenge is testing three AA rechargeable Panasonic batteries. The robot and crews are stopping only to charge up the batteries in the support van and then getting right back on the course.

(Photo courtesy of the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel)

Follow the robots’ progress and check out the live streaming video at: http://panasonic.jp/charge/evolta/challenge/2011_e/index.html

Follow the robot on Twitter: @EVOLTA_Robot

Tomotaka Takahashi and the bike robot. (Photo courtesy of Panasonic)

(Photo courtesy of Panasonic)