In January, Hyperion worked with Sydney creative studio Studio Messa to build a robotic tennis opponent for the Australian Open.

The project

Studio Messa designed the Kia Australia activation at the 2026 Australian Open, an experience built around Kia's Move Different theme and 25 years of partnership with the AO. The concept called for a robotic opponent the public could actually play against. Studio Messa brought Hyperion in to build it.

What we delivered

Hyperion designed and delivered the robotic integration behind the Rafa Reflex Challenge: an ABB GoFa collaborative robot arm programmed to hold a tennis racket, time its swing against a precision ball-drop system, and run a sequence of expressive movements between serves.

Function was only half the brief. The arm also had to perform. Between rounds it waved at visitors, bowed, and swept the floor in mock frustration. Hyperion choreographed and programmed every movement to run reliably across thousands of public interactions, day after day, for the length of the tournament.

The ball-drop system was engineered to release at the exact moment needed for a repeatable, hittable serve. That precision is what made the challenge a real test of reflexes rather than something to stand and watch.

The Result

Tens of thousands of Australian Open visitors stepped up to the mini net, watched the arm wind up, and found out how quick they were.

Different application, same underlying capability: robotic systems programmed to hit a mark repeatedly, in an environment where any failure is public.