The bigger the better

If you wander onto a construction site, you can catch a glimpse of a towering crane or a multi-story dump truck, but for the most part, the world’s largest machines operate away from the public eye. Massive mining equipment or tunnel-boring drills work far underground or in remote regions, while huge cargo planes are rarely seen at commercial terminals.

The world’s largest machines are not all about work. Fifty-foot robotic creatures and three-story vending machines show that mechanical inventions can sometimes focus on fun instead of providing industrial muscle.

Here are some of the world’s largest machines, and the important, fun or sometimes controversial jobs that they are built to accomplish.