The Wanaka Primary School pupil was one of about 200 pupils from around Otago competing in the Otago RoboCup competition in Dunedin on Saturday.
He has dreams of building a bigger, more practical robot than the one he and his team-mates were using at the RoboCup competition.
"I like coding and I want to get better at it so I can make bigger robots. I want to make one that will clean my room.
"But that's not going to happen in the next five years. It will take quite a while to do.
"So much computer time is involved. It will probably be quicker just to clean my room myself."
Robotics Education New Zealand executive Bill Boyes said Rhys was one of a growing number of Central Otago school pupils participating in the competition.
He said the Otago regional competition started in 2004 with about 50 competitors, but in recent years the numbers had grown to about 200.
"Because we've had a strong contingent come down from Central Otago to the Otago regional competition in Dunedin this year, next year we'll have a competition for Central Otago pupils, in Central Otago."
RoboCup competitors programme their robots to do robot theatre, carry out rescue missions or play soccer.
He said the contest's popularity was growing because it not only encompassed engineering and IT skills, but also extended right across the school curriculum.
It also addressed social development by encouraging sportsmanship, sharing, teamwork, understanding of differences between individuals and nations, co-operation and organisational skills.
Results. -
Junior Theatre winner: Maori Hill Magic, Maori Hill School (Alice Bennett, Olivia Stevenson, Zuzanna Kochan, Jasper Harvey, Max Farrar, Liam Hamilton, Torin Stephens); Junior Search and Rescue winner: Robostormer Titans, Queenstown Robotics Trust (George Espie, Uny Liu); Senior Theatre winner: The Choco Girls, St Hilda's Collegiate (Samara Collins, Amelia Leaper, Maia Palmer, Mila Pollyn); Senior Search and Rescue winner: Tech Warriors, St Hilda's Collegiate (Victoria Avery, Zara Geddes); Premier Theatre winner: Robocup Junior Junior, Otago Boys' High School (Aaron Nelson); Premier Search and Rescue winner: Team Armadillo, independent (Maia Robertson); Soccer winner: 1st= Roboscouts, Tahuna Normal Intermediate (Jonty Allan, Alex Brown, Matthew Gray, Jamie Lewis) and The Columbots, Columba College (Ruth Huang, Joanna Liu); Programming prizes: Maia Robertson, Aaron Nelson, Ruth Huang, Joanna Liu, Tobias Devereux and Henry Eden-Mann.
