Lily's robot dancer puts on show at the V&A museum

A pole-dancing robot based on the machines which performed with Lily Allen goes on display at the V&A museum today.

Visitors will be able to control the robot using their mobile phone, telling it how to dance and triggering smoke and strobe lights.

The life-sized machine, which has a megaphone for a head, can receive texts from visitors and perform their choice from several pre-programmed dances. It it built from scrap, and powered by car windscreen wipers.

"It took a lot of time to program, to make the movements fluid and appear real," said Giles Walker, who built the machine.

The text-controlled version is based on the same design used by Lily Allen as backing dancers at the NME awards on Wednesday.

The robot, controlled by a Nokia handset built into one of its feet, is part of the Nokia N900 experience at the V&A, until Sunday.