Help Tafelsig Robokid reach Texas finals
A 16-year-old robot whiz from Tafelsig has been selected to represent South Africa at the World Championship in Houston, Texas from 15-19 April.
Cape Academy of Mathematics, Science and Technology learner, Liam Pretorius, alongside his teammates, won the South African FIRST Tech Challenge Championship at the national championship hosted at Amazon Headquarters in Observatory last weekend.
The dream team, named Astrovo, competed against 21 teams from eSwatini and across South Africa, demonstrating outstanding engineering, teamwork, and innovation to secure the national title.
An excited Pretorius said he is looking forward to his trip as it will be a great birthday present.
Liam says: “I am excited and happy that I am part of a team that is going to represent my country in Texas.
“I am also happy that I am doing it around the time of my 17th birthday, which is on 13 April. Our team has worked hard to get here and I am proud to be a part of Astrovo.”
The FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) is a globally recognised robotics competition where teams of students design, build, and program robots to complete specific challenges.
FTC fosters problem-solving, collaboration, and critical thinking, equipping students with the skills they need to become future leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
This global event brings together the best robotics teams from around the world to compete in an intense test of creativity, strategy, and technical excellence.
Proud mom Janine Pretorius said that she is super proud of the whole team and said that Liam has always been interested in science since primary school.
She says: “They put in all their effort and have robotics almost everyday after school and holidays.
“They built a robot that gets coded and does all the obstacle courses that are part of the competition.”
However, for Astrovo to be able to get to the competition each learner is required to raise about R95 000 to cover all the expenses.
If anyone would like to donate towards Liam’s trip or the team please contact 084 986 2316 or jllpretorius@gmail.com
