UNTIL now, it has been the stuff of Hollywood science fiction - a first generation of intelligent robots which can survive a bullet, rebuild themselves and come back stronger.

But electronics experts are on the verge of bringing the fantasy to life in a pioneering project.

The European Commission has awarded a grant of £340,000 to York University to develop "electronic tissue" which will be used in robots built in Switzerland.

If all goes according to plan, the results could be astounding, with the potential for the most sophisticated robots to be sent into space or to the bottom of the ocean.

Professor Andy Tyrrell, head of the university's electronics department, will lead the initiative to design and develop "POEtic Tissue" - an electronic tissue with the ability to grow, learn, self-repair and self-replicate.

The EC grant will allow experts to build a basic cell from silicon and spare circuitry, with which the robots can be filled.

The cells will be shot through with information on their design so the circuits can be rebuilt if damaged.

Prof Tyrrell said the success of the theoretical POEtic tissue - the POE stands for philogeny, ontogeny and epigenesis, the three characteristics of living cells it will imitate - could lead to more advanced breakthroughs in the future.

The first fully-functional robots from the project could be developed within three years