Whether it’s weeks of optimising the paper airplane at 8 years old, carefully carving catapults at 11, rising to the top echelons of international stickfigure animation society at 13 (that’s right) or creating videos in every genre at 15, I have been doing something, forever. Throughout my life though, building stuff is my default condition. Within that, I can’t describe who I am without talking about building robots.
Like almost everyone of a certain demographic, my childhood was dominated by shows like Robot Wars, Scrapheap Challenge and TechnoGames from the UK’s golden era of engineering television. I took Robot Wars in particular to heart. I had the toys, the games, the branded pencil case. Fast forward to my mid-teens and I discovered that an enthusiast community still exists, despite the show’s cancellation. Combine this with some disillusion in school, and the rest is history.
This is more a way of life than a hobby. It’s part of my fingerprint; who I am. I have built several dozen machines over almost half of my life, across 4 different “weightclasses” (it’s like boxing) and it has given me escape, focus, work, community and skills for life.
Some recent builds are “Gizmo” and “Killi Pepper”. Gizmo is a small machine, entirely 3D printed, running most of my own components. With Gizmo’s various iterations I have won multiple major UK competitions, and it’s statistically most successful 1.5KG machine in the country (I think!)
Killi Pepper was originally an unbelievably rushed build (10 days from opening SOLIDWORKS to first fight) but despite this, I was able to win at FightFest 2024, making me the current UK Featherweight Champion.
I have built countless other machines, all uniquely nutty, all requiring a firm grip on time, budget and resource management on top of the predictably high CAD and engineering effort. Every machine needs high power electronics systems, custom transmissions, multiple manufacturing methods, and a need to perform under extreme duress (being attacked!) from “Activate!” – this is effectively prototyping bespoke products on steroids.
I had the opportunity to build what was then my first “heavyweight” machine, meaning 110KG, for the first reboot series of Robot Wars in late 2015. I had 9 weeks’ notice, age 19, and in that time I built the first version of Pulsar with which I scraped a spot into the series final. I built a second version from scratch for the next go around, this time 7 weeks from CAD start to combat (TV schedules!) and this was my most complex robot build by part count ever. Something like 1200 components – I got carried away – but it is also what got me hired!
I built Magnetar, derived from Pulsar, for what turned out to be the last of the show’s reboot series (4 weeks this time, sigh) and Magnetar carried me back into the final. If I’m sentimental about any of my builds, “Maggy” is probably the one! I have rebuilt and maintained it since the show, and it last saw combat in 2023.
I have been fortunate enough to travel with this hobby too. I have done Battlebots in Las Vegas, King of Bots in Shanghai (3 times), and several EU competitions in addition to countless UK events all over the country.
Sliding into your DMs like
I have fought robots under the wing of the Concorde, in pub carparks, and in $40M dedicated film sets. Robot Wars was filmed in a freezing warehouse in Glasgow. I have done school demos, design commissions, and unspeakably long coffee-fuelled sleepless build sprees in all kinds of home workshops, sheds and offices. This hobby, if calling it that isn’t terribly underselling it, has given me a depth of knowledge and a strength of character that I call on in everything I do.
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When not thinking about robots (it can happen) I am doing what most 20-somethings do at some stage: cultivating a fitness obsession. I picked up running and resistance training in 2023, and I’d add the qualifier of “big-time”. I now either run, gym or climb (or several) every day and chase a step count. I was the guy saying that I’m not built for running, which I now know to be nonsense. I have loved exploring what I can do physically, and yes, my Garmin is at least 75% of my personality. Joking aside, this is a huge part of my life today and it has gone from a curiosity to a ready supply of new challenges and joy.
Oh, and if following a sport counts as a hobby, we can discuss Formula 1 any time. Shocker! I arguably enjoy making online content enough to call it a hobby too, but more about that is on the media page 🙂