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Look out York! The robots have invaded

@ Things to do

A brave child intervenes as a warring robot invades the National Railway Museum. Photographs: NRM
We always knew it was going to happen. The machines, they said, would rise up and take over. So when evil-looking robots rolled into York, it seemed the age of human supremacy was over.

To be fair, people took the invasion in their stride. Particularly the children who, instead of running away screaming from the metal monsters, seemed keen to make friends with them.

The automatons were out and about to publicise their new show which hits the National Railway Museum this weekend. Veterans of the popular telly show Robot Wars, they are the stars of the museum’s celebration of National Science & Engineering Week (NSEW).

This year’s theme is “invention and discovery”, so the museum has teamed up with Robots Live to create a show aimed at getting all ages talking about the power of science.

Another youngster confronts a robot in St Helen's Square…
Another youngster confronts a robot in St Helen’s Square…
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Come back..!
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Gotcha!

The robots will go into combat in a specially-built arena, complete with the infamous Pit of Oblivion. In between these battles there will also be live demonstrations from the rope-climbing Skeletron, the water squirting Sidewinder and a full sized Dalek.

For a small charge, children can then put what they’ve seen into practice as they attempt to create their very own simple robot in an interactive craft activity.

"Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and what do they ask me to do? Give out leaflets…"
“Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and what do they ask me to do? Give out leaflets…”

“This is an incredible event full of excitement for people of all ages and hopefully will get a new generation of people talking about the wonders of science,” said Noel Hartley, rail events coordinator at the National Railway Museum.

“We are really proud to have been involved in NSEW for over a decade and look forward to showing everyone how much fun science is through our wide range of workshops and shows.”