Robotic car takes teen far

Jonathon Platt, 18, with his "robotic crab-car", which earned national and international awards. Picture / Greg Bowker

A robotic car that moves like a crab has earned Jonathon Platt national and international prizes, but in real life he is content behind the wheel of an old Morris Minor.

The 18-year-old former Kings College student won the top senior Bright Sparks award from the Royal Society of New Zealand and an award from the Institute of Professional Engineers of New Zealand.

The car also got Jonathon to the Taiwan International Science Fair - part of his Bright Sparks prize - where he came first in a field of 20 in the engineering category.

The young Aucklander, who is headed for Auckland University's School of Engineering this year, spent six months building the 40cm-long radio-controlled car using a combination of computer programming and mechanical engineering.

He designed it to turn 180 degrees in any direction or move directly sideways.

Jonathon not only excels in all things technical - he achieved a 100 per cent pass mark in NCEA technology last year - he also topped Kings in art for the past two years.

But even he is asking for a "reconsideration" of his NCEA results.

"I only got 'Achieved' in art, which was pretty annoying. That's about the lowest you can get."

While Jonathon was pleased with his engineering award from Taiwan, it was the engineering feats in the island nation that impressed him, such as the lift in Taipei's tallest building. It travels 60km/h between 101 floors.

"It's specially pressurised but it still made your ears pop," he said.

While leading-edge technology is his thing, Jonathon is happy tinkering with the simpler mechanics beneath the hood of his 1959 Morris Minor.

"It's pretty basic but I don't have to worry about paying lots of money for repairs.

"It just keeps on going."