The upgraded Matilda won't suffer such humiliating scenes. "We now use full pressure Carbon Dioxide in her tusks so it really explodes," says Cooper. "She can jump robots six-foot in the air. Bearing in mind the competitors can weigh up to 110 kilos, that takes a lot of power."

Advances in technology have helped both the team and house robots become more aggressive than ever. A decade ago, competitors used car batteries to drive their robots, making them heavy and sluggish. Now, light weight batteries and motors mean the robots can be faster and more agile.

When the six-week-long series begins this Sunday, Cooper will secretly be rooting for DeadMetal. "DeadMetal's my favourite, because that's the one I worked on," he says.

To lace the House Robots with extra ferocity, Robo Challenge divided its engineers into three teams that were in charge of separately creating Matilda, DeadMetal and Shunt. But they regrouped when it came to making Killalot, a 741kg monster fronted by a pincer with 2.5 tonnes of grip, and two arms that can each lift 300kg.