Pint-sized robots battle at Beetle Championship

The robots all had a maximum weight limit of 1.5kg

Fighting robots and their owners from across Europe have been competing at the UK championships.

Almost 50 robots, each weighing 1.5kg or less, fought against each other at an event in St Michael's Centre, Stoke Gifford, Bristol.

The competition was hosted by the Bristol Bot Builders, an organisation that encourages people to take an interest in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths).

"The robots you used to see on Robot Wars were around 100 to 110kg, so we like to scale it down a bit and bring a whole load of people into our beautiful city," said Craig Croucher from the Bot Builders.

Around 300 spectators turned out to watch the robots destroy each other earlier today.

Mr Croucher said the event was full of "normal people from all walks of life", who use robot fighting as a way to learn more about science.

"We like to keep it super basic.

"The best way to win is to disable your opponent, however, that might be.

"If you want to destroy them, cut them up, slice them up, you could flip them around, make sure they can't move anymore.

"The most devastating weapons that we see at our tournaments are tend to be spinning discs, things that are going to spin up to 250mph (402kmh) and deliver all of that kinetic energy into their opponents.

"They can really throw them around and cut them up," he said.

The event is similar to the popular TV series Robot Wars - only the robots are much smaller

Mr Croucher said the robot-building scene was a "lovely community" and there were several competitors who were pushing the boundaries with the technology.

"It is always really exciting.

"We've even got an autonomous robot here today," he said.