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ROBOTS OF
DESTRUCTION!
by Cpl Paul Millar
Photos by Cpl Neville Coughlan
T
he 50th BT Young Scientist Exhibition took
place from January 6th to 11th in the RDS,
Dublin, at which a six-man Air Corps team
put on another of their popular robot displays.
The team were in the first episode of the TV show
Robot Wars and have been regular attendees at
the exhibition for over 12 years. During this time
their role has changed from building the fighting
robots to organising the Robots of Destruction
display, in which teams from the UK compete;
setting up the fighting arena; erecting the tent,
which was supplied by Fossett's Circus; and entertaining the crowds on the day.
The attraction has increased in popularity, meaning that the fighting arena had to change location
to a 1,000-seater venue within the grounds of the
RDS. There were seven shows per day over four
days, entertaining close to 28,000 spectators.
Apart from the fighting robots, which have the
power to flip a car, the team had functional recreations from Dr Who, Star Wars and even a humanlike robot that could climb a rope.
The team consisted of Sgt Ciaran 'Zulu' Byrne,
Airmen Aidan Ennis, Colm O'Malley and Joe Gavin,
Mr Noel Lennon (all from No 4 Sp Wing) and Cpl
Will Sweeney (No 3 Ops Wing). Working as a tightknit group they built up the crowd using radios
and microphones to co-ordinate the civilian staff,
cameramen and school groups, providing the most
entertaining and popular part of the exhibition.
Sgt Byrne said about
the team's decade-long
involvement in the exhibition: "For many currently serving members
of the Defence Forces,
the presence of the team
at the Young Scientist
Exhibition was their first
introduction to the work
and skill levels that
could be achieved by
signing up."
An Cosantóir February 2014 www.dfmagazine.ie
