The 17-year-old from Papanui will take part in the Vex V5 Robotics World Championship high school competition in Dallas, Texas, from May 6-8.
“It is pretty cool – it has been the goal to get to the worlds.”
Rhys and his teammate Alex Griffin are students at Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery.
Under their team name Maverick, they designed, built and programmed Quasar, the game-playing robot, over the past year.
Quasar is an expert at the game High Stakes, which involves picking up coloured plastic rings and using them to score goals over a two-minute period.
Rhys and Alex have competed in local scrimmages and dedicated many hours to perfecting their robot.
"The USA and Chinese teams, to them, these are full sports. Robotics have similar clout to rugby teams over here.”
Rhys said the robotics community in Christchurch is small but supportive.
“It is a tight-knit community, we were borrowing a field to practice on and now we are about to compete and compare ourselves against 800 teams of the best of other countries.”
The starting point to build a robot was about $3000, Rhys said.
"In my first season to make worlds is an achievement in itself. It is quite exciting.
"There are only two teams from the South Island going over and they’re both from Canterbury," Alex said.
Said Rhys: "No matter where you place, you are in the top 5%."
The pair are both set to fly out to Texas on Saturday, May 3.
Hillmorton team to return to US for robotics champs
All roads lead to Dallas in the United States for the Hillmorton High School robotics team.
It is one of two Christchurch teams heading to Texas to compete in the Vex Robotics world championships.
Team Bruh is made up of project manager Holly Brown, 15, builder Zach Nicholson, 16, driver Micah Langford, 16, and programmer Josh Bergin, 16.
The other Christchurch team selected for the championships is Maverick from Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery.
Team Bruh earned its spot by winning the excellence award at the nationals in Auckland in February.
The award was given to the best overall team.
“The team did really well at nationals, coming third in the qualification matches, third in skills, third in driver control and third in autonomous.”
Starting in May last year, teams had to design, build and programme a robot that could compete in the competition by completing certain tasks, Josh said.
Called High Stakes, the game involved the robot picking up coloured plastic rings and using them to score goals over a two-minute period.
Teams could get extra points by moving the goalposts or “wall stakes” to certain parts of the field, and by climbing up the ladder in the centre.
Josh said Team Bruh was surprised by its performance at the nationals and have now set the bar high for Texas, as well continuing to grow robotics at the school.
“I knew that we were one of the top teams in Canterbury, but I didn’t think that we would win against all the competition from other regions of New Zealand,” said Josh.
“I think it’s awesome what the team has accomplished this year. Our ultimate goal would be to qualify for the play-offs in our division pool.”
They will be up against 800 teams from high schools around the world.
All four students were part of the Hillmorton team that went to Texas for the world championships in 2023.
“Two years ago, our trip up to Texas for the IQ competition encouraged lots of other students at Hillmorton High School to try out robotics. Our tiny club multiplied in numbers, and it was super inspiring to see what we had accomplished within the kura,” Josh said.
Holly said the team working together was what she enjoyed most.
“I enjoy collaborating with others on the robot design and build as it is cool to see what we can create when we work together.”
