Titan, one of the robots at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2015 strikes fear into the atending crowd. Image via Connor McKenna
Those attending the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition in the RDS in Dublin this year have been mesmerised by the sight of robots both helping and battling each other.
While most of the students’ projects are aiming to create the next advances in science, technology and maths, the World of Robots tent at the RDS is attempting to show what can be achieved through robotics by making them battle on stage.
Run by Mechatrons, Ireland’s largest robotics education and entertainment providers, the event sees hundreds of kids flock to see robots battle it out in scenes familiar to those who would have watched the Robot Wars series on TV aired during the early-2000s.
Founded by Pete Redmond, Mechatrons have some robots that would be very-much household names including R2D2 from the Star Wars series, a terrifying Dalek from Dr Who and RuBot II, the world record-holding Rubik’s Cube-solving robot.
Speaking to Siliconrepublic.com backstage during a break in the proceedings, Redmond said of the prevalence of robotics in society, “We don’t realise how much they’ve infiltrated our lives. Things like washing machines meet all the criteria of a robot but we don’t call it a robot. We don’t realise that robots are just sneaking into our lives.”
