MoD bids to find robot wars winner

Last Modified: 14 Aug 2008
Source: ITN

The finalists of a competition to find new gadgets that could help the British Armed Forces are battling it out to reveal a winner.

Eleven teams, who have each created devices designed to identify threats to troops in combat, are taking part in the final of Ministry of Defence's Grand Challenge on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.

Moon buggies and flying saucers are among the gadgets vying to become the next hi-tech surveillance tool for the UK military and it is all in a bid to find new technology that could benefit soldiers serving in difficult areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

Each team will have one hour to send their vehicles into the village of Copehill Down, which has been specially built by the military for urban warfare training.

Actors and props will be positioned around the village, creating scenarios where the lines between innocent bystanders and armed militia become blurred.

The winner will receive the RJ Mitchell Trophy, named after the designer of the Spitfire fighter aircraft, which earned legendary status for its role in the Battle of Britain.

The MoD will then consider if technologies demonstrated in the final can be incorporated into future frontline kit for the Armed Forces.

"We are in no doubt that this is a difficult challenge," said Grand Challenge programme leader, Andy Wallace.

One of the entrants is Team I-Spy, a group of students from Middlesex University offering a light-weight "tricopter" capable of hovering and perching whilst surveying an area of interest.

Another team, Mira, made up of a mixture of people including BAE Systems and pupils from Royal Grammar School in Guildford, is putting forward two "flying saucer-like" un-manned air vehicles fitted with infra-red cameras and laser scanners.

Baroness Taylor, Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, said: "The UK has a world-class track record in scientific excellence, and we want to draw on all of the expertise out there, from box room inventors just starting out, to the largest defence firms.

"The competition has been designed to provide an accessible and fun event for participants, but there is a very serious point to it."

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