Helderberg Robotics Club teams set to compete in World Robot Olympiad finals in Singapore
From left to right: Team Null Point Exception members Siobhan Kennedy, 20, and Michael Shepstone, 20, won the Future Engineers category in the national competition and will represent South Africa in Singapore.
Image: Supplied
Two teams from the Helderberg Robotics Club will be heading to the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) International Finals in Singapore from Tuesday, November 25 to Friday, November 28.
The teams Null Point Exception and Titans won at the national finals that took place in September at the University of the Western Cape and at the Heartfelt Arena in Pretoria during a full-day event organized by WRO South Africa.
The Null Point Exception team, consisting of Siobhan Kennedy, 20, and Michael Shepstone, 20, won the Future Engineers category, while the Titans team, consisting of Connor Crotz, 17, and Eben Gelderblom, 17, won the RoboSports category.
As the winners in their respective categories, the teams qualified to represent South Africa at the WRO international finals.
The Future Engineers category challenge focuses on building self-driving robotic vehicles that navigate dynamic tracks autonomously using computer vision, sensor fusion, and control algorithms, rewarding technical innovation and engineering process documentation.
The RoboSports category is a fun game where two teams each have two autonomous robots on the field playing a sports game. The robot needs to be built from LEGO® materials, including controller, motors and sensors. In addition, teams use a camera of their choice. Each year, little changes are introduced to motivate the students to keep on developing their robots.
Dr Anthony Williams, the head coach at the Helderberg Robotics Club, said: "If the club can achieve this standard without any funding, imagine what they can do when funded."
The national organiser for the WRO South Africa, Danie Heymans, appealed for the sponsorship for all teams to help cover registration costs, travelling, accommodation and meals. Sponsor branding can be added to the WROSA shirts and their profile pages added on the WRO 2025 website.
For more information, contact Heymans at 0826591404 or danie@carefored.co.za.
Holding the Gold certificates from left to right are Connor Crotz, 17, and Eben Gelderblom, 17, who won the RoboSports category in the national competition and who will be representing South Africa in Singapore. They are flanked, from left, by Benjamin Sedres, Seth Kroneberg, Daniel Lavies, Cody Williams, Benjamin Lavies and Leighton Roelf.
Image: Supplied