Gold, silver and bronze! Redhill’s young innovators swept the podium and locked in a place at nationals with an AI-powered, marimba-playing robot.
Johannesburg, South Africa (04 August 2026) – Redhill School is celebrating its students after its robotics teams claimed gold, silver and bronze at the World Robotics Olympiad (WRO) regional competition!
Competing against teams from 17 other schools in Gauteng, Redhill’s ten robotics teams swept the Future Innovators podium, with one standout gold-winning crew has earned the chance to represent the province at the national finals.
The World Robotics Olympiad encourages young people to use science, technology and engineering to tackle ‘real-world challenges.’ This year’s Future Innovators category focused on arts and culture, asking teams to imagine how robotics could help preserve, celebrate and share cultural heritage.
“Our ten Future Innovators teams were challenged to design original robotic solutions to real-world problems in the field of arts and culture, while our two RoboMission teams designed and programmed autonomous robots to complete complex missions with speed and precision.
The judges were blown away by the creativity, technical skill and innovation demonstrated by our students, with Redhill sweeping the Future Innovators podium…” the school shared.
One project in particular captured the judges’ attention.
The gold medal-winning team developed an AI-powered camera capable of recognising different images. Each recognised image prompted a robot to play a corresponding song on a marimba, creating a unique way to celebrate and preserve Shona music and culture through tech!
The team’s success means they’ll now head to the national finals, where they’ll compete against some of the country’s top young robotics teams for a chance to represent South Africa at the World Robotics Olympiad International Final in Puerto Rico.
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While only one team will continue to nationals, the school says every learner involved has plenty to be proud of.
“We are incredibly proud of every student who participated. Beyond the medals, they demonstrated the curiosity, collaboration, resilience and innovation that will help shape the future.”
Congratulations to Redhill’s young robotics whizzes, and good luck to all of SA’s gold medallists as they head to the next stage of the competition!
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