It's war!

From the Swindon Advertiser, first published Monday 13th Mar 2006.

HUNDREDS of children took part in gladiatorial battles of a different kind at Swindon's Steam Museum.

Youngsters went head-to-head in the Robogeddon Arena as the museum was turned into a mini version of hit BBC series Robot Wars.

And fans were even treated to a demonstration by 2001 Robot Wars champion Razer, while Professor Kevin Warwick, an expert in cybernetics from the University of Reading, also showed off a selection of his own robots.

The Robot Wars all-day event was the brainchild of the Steam Museum's events manager Ian Sturtees.

"The reason behind it was to emphasise the engineering required to make a robot and to tie it in with the engineering we have on display here," he said. The exhibition hall also featured displays from on-line robot firm Robots Direct, while the Swindon Home Education Liberty Lego team also provided demonstrations of their award-winning Lego robots.

Nine-year-old Luke Ferina, of Old Town, was just one of the budding robot inventors to take part. "It was really good fun," said the King William Street School pupil. "I made my own robot at home, but it was great to score points against the other robots and to smash into them."

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