A WHITCHURCH father and his teenage have taken part in a web series modelled on famous BBC show, Robot Wars.

Chris Sowry and his 13-year-old son, Oliver travelled to Labman Automation near Middlesbrough in December 2021 and took part in the Fight Fest Winter Challenge Hobbyweight tournament.

Chris and Oliver's robot, 'Blue Python,' weighs 5.6 kilograms and competed against robots from other parts of the UK.

The pair took part in a range of tournaments and Chris said they competed against people who appeared on Robot Wars.

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He added: "Our robot 'Blue Python' weighing 5.6kg's took part against five other robots from across the UK.

"A range of other competitions ran over the weekend including an 'Annihilator' in which both Ollie and I competed with our own robots, against some of the very best in the UK and familiar names from BBC's rebooted Robot Wars.

"We competed in the 'battle of the Isles' featuring robots from Scotland and Ireland.

The tournament was shown on Labman's Fight Fest Youtube channel and Chris said it was an honour to take part.

He explained: "We had a total of five robots running over the weekend, all needing repairs after each fight.

"It was very stressful, it always is at competitions, but well worth the effort.

Whitchurch Herald: Blue Python in competition.Blue Python in competition.

"Both Ollie and I were involved in some bruising fights that the audience will enjoy.

"Labman have made an excellent arena and was an honour to be apart of UK fighting robot history with these new hobbyweights."

Like in boxing there are different weight classes for the robots, ranging from 'Antweights' which are 150 grams to 'Heavyweights' which weight 110 kilograms.

Chris built his first robot after watching tutorials, having previously had no knowledge of robots.

He said: "It is a spectator sport, but I always try to encourage anybody to take up this hobby.

"I had no knowledge of robots five years ago, I was a dad of three kids and stuck in the monotonous life of work, eat, sleep and repeat.

"But after watching Youtube videos and asking people already involved.

"I self taught much of what I know now, built my very first robot and not looked back.

"My life has improved at home and at work as I now moved to the maintenance team of where I work."

Chris previously appeared with his daughter, Felicity in a show called 'Bugglebots.'

You can watch the show via https://www.youtube.com/watch