UNDERGRADUATE engineers have been trying to get to the top of a rope in a challenge set by Training 2000.

Students from six North West universities took part in an eight week course at the Training 2000 Centre, Blackburn, to equip them with additional industry skills.

The students were asked to put their skills in pneumatics, electronics, computer-aided design and traditional engineering disciplines into practice by designing a robot which could climb a rope.

Ashiq Hussain Khalid, 20, of St James Road, Blackburn, is a second year student at the University of Manchester. He said: "We didn't have a clue at first but about half way through we started to get ideas about how to go about it." But what will happen to the finished designs, including one nicknamed SID (Supersonic Integration Design) which cost almost £1000, remains a mystery.

Neil Hargreaves, electronic instructor, said: "It seems a shame now to dismantle them so we are not sure what to do. There have been similar devices featured on television which are used to clean windows so that could be a possibility."

Stephen Lakey, 20, of Milking Lane, Lower Darwen, a student as Salford University, said: "It could maybe climb up a rope to rescue somebody from a burning building but it would need a bit of adapting.

"We are still working on how to use it in practice."

The project was funded by the North west Development Agency with the Engineering and Marine Training Authority and managed by North West Aerospace Alliance.