Swindon Town F.C. Study Centre are running a week of robot soccer tournaments for local primary schools . Over 240 pupils from 18 schools are taking part. The children work in teams of five and have to build a Lego robot footballer and program it to compete in a tournament against the other teams.

Each team must also use a camera to take digital images of their work and produce a Power Point presentation with audio and special effects.

Ivan Kirk from Dorcan Technology College and Andrew Beck a member of the study centre staff show the students how to build the robot, download a program and then calibrate the robot on the Robo soccer pitch. The pitch is black at one end and the surface becomes gradually lighter in colour to the white end. The robot is able to sense if it is at the black end or the white end of the pitch or somewhere between.

Two robots play against one another in each match and they have to try and find a ball, which emits an ultra violet signal. The robots will be programmed to push the ball to either the black end or the white end of the pitch.

Each team plays four matches with the four best teams going through to the knock out stages. Prior to the semi-finals each team has to make their Power Point presentation to the rest of the group. Then the temperature really rises as the semi finals and then the final match is played.