I was at the Centre for Life during the Science Fest last year taking part in the Robo Challenge featherweight championships and had a fantastic time. Unfortunately I was so immersed in the robot combat side of things that I never really ventured far from where we were set up so I didn't realise the range of inventions and creations outside. I only became fully aware of them when watching all the news clips.
There's no robot combat this year (just power tool drag racing) but I'd highly recommend it for a weekend trip away, especially if like me you love all the engineering geekery on display