ambiguity

> But the patent can't cover the machine without software (motors, sensors etc are old tech, and not eligible for patent protection as a result), and I can run the software in isolation.

That's exactly the point. If it can't cover the machine without software, then it's clearly a software patent, and as such it is explicitly not patentable in Europe.

Likewise, if you run the software with no hardware attached, it's clearly a software patent and again not patentable. (Plus, without hardware attached, it can't do anything so what exactly are you patenting?)

If you can't patent the hardware, you can't patent anything, because "do it with a computer" is not patentable.

As I said, what exactly are you patenting? Patenting software is the same as patenting a blueprint. And if you're patenting the blueprint itself, what exactly is it you've got? Something pretty worthless.

Cheers,
Wol