Robot football is warm-up for the future

There was Metal Mickey - catchphrase "boogie, boogie" - created by his young genius owner to help around the house and who had a vacuum cleaner for a love interest.

And Johnny Five from the movie Short Circuit... super intelligent, friendly, prone to blowing things up with his in-built laser but certainly perfectly capable of doing the dishes.

Robots, preferably ones who didn't turn on their human makers and try to hunt us all down, were supposed to have arrived by now, ready to perform our every command, make the tea and sweep the stairs, all done without even the tiniest electronic beep of complaint.

But while they've not quite reached that stage yet, according to Subramanian Ramamoorthy, Lecturer in Infomatics at Edinburgh University, work is definitely in progress. He believes that before much longer electronic friends will be sharing our homes, perhaps not quite washing the windows and cleaning out the cat's litter tray, but certainly making our lives a little bit easier.

"I'd be surprised if we don't have robots of some kind in our homes in ten, say 20 years," he says. "We are slowly improving the pieces - lots of pieces need to come together - and the hard part is to build the technology so it's hidden away and not too complicated for people to actually use."

A taste of what we might eventually come to expect will be unveiled at the Museum of Flight in East Lothian tomorrow, when the robots expert and his university team along with their four specially adapted French-made humanoid Nao robots take part in Robots Live!, a day-long futuristic glimpse into tomorrow's world.

And it's a future, it seems, that is hinged largely around football...

"There's a basic set of behaviour required to play football," explains Subramanian, whose team works on the artificial intelligence required to make robots think, move and avoid falling over. "These robots have two hands, two legs, a camera on their head and a sonar sensor.

"To play, they need to kick the ball, defend the goal. An important challenge for robots is to figure out where they are, what they are looking at and where they should be going.

"It has to combine perception with action in an intelligent way.And playing football is a good way for robots to work with each other and interact with people."

The two-aside football match - a test run before the university team heads to Istanbul next month to take part in the world robot football championships, RoboCup - is expected to be one of the highlights in a day dedicated to all things robotic.

Among the child-friendly events is the chance to build your own electronic device, come face to face with Millenium FX - an eight foot tall robot creation from the special effects company behind Dr Who, Being Human, and Saving Private Ryan - and to cheer wildly as stars of television's Robot Wars create mayhem.

Kids' favourites from the show Behemoth, Big Nipper and Storm II will enter destruction mode, although quite possibly in vain once Battleaxe, a robot with steel claws, a heavy steel hammer and 500kg of thrust, enters the arena.

Also on show will be one of the world's most advanced bionic hands from Livingston-based Touch Bionics and there will be a chance to feed Don-8r, one of the latest innovations in charitable fundraising, it relies on coin donations from passers-by to keep it moving.

And, of course, no robot event would be complete without the world's most unpleasant metal monster - a Dr Who dalek.

Grant MacKenzie, general manager, National Museum of Flight, says the fun family event will also provide an action-packed glimpse into the future.

"It gives an insight into some of the latest scientific developments in the field of robotics, whether for health, entertainment or other industrial uses," he adds.

n Robots Live! At the National Museum of Flight, East Fortune, tomorrow from 10am. Adults 10/8.50, Children 5 (under 5 free). Family ticket 27.50 (2 adults and 2 children). Booking essential. Further details: www.nms.ac.uk/flight or call 0300 123 6789.