Champ has been designed so children who are too ill to attend a football game or other sporting event can go out onto the pitch remotely with their favourite team. They can see and here what is going on, and also talk to the players via the robot.

Dribbling with a ball at high speed, these football-playing robots have clearly mastered some impressive techniques. Ahead of the 2017 RoboCup in Japan this July, humanoid androids from around the world are currently in warm-up mode. Photographs taken yesterday in the east Chinese city of Rizhao, show some of the country's top man-made athletes in action with dozens of spectators out to watch. The robots appear to be around 11 inches high, with their teams highlighted by coloured plastic jerseys and helmets. It's expected that hundreds of competitors from dozens of countries will participate in the four-day soccer tournament.