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The MoD Grand Challenge was developed to promote the creation of unmanned surveillance vehicles able to help soldiers identify enemy positions, patrols, roadside bombs and even sniper positions without needing to send in troops.

The ten entrants, which included a miniature flying saucer and helicopters with four rotors, competed over three days at a mocked up German village with points being

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awarded for the robot which detected the most threats.

The winning robot was developed by Team Stellar, a collection of private businesses and Cranfield University, and utilised a high altitude spy plane to map the village, before a smaller aircraft swept the houses taking video and thermal imagery. With the mapping and survey stages complete, the team then launched a tracked vehicle to reconnoitre the area for land-based threats including bombs.

"The Grand Challenge has proven a showcase for the wealth of talent that exists in the UK - not just in large Defence firms, but in universities, schools and even garden sheds across the nation," says Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Baroness Ann Taylor.

"They have brought fresh, exciting ideas to the Defence table which could have battle winning applications for our Armed Forces".

The MoD has invested £4.5 million in the competition and says the robots could be ready for the battlefield within 18 months.