Arduino Learning Studiorobotics pathway

Robotics pathway · ages 6–17

One robot idea, met four ways.

Every robot senses, decides and acts, kept safe and proven by testing. Those ideas stay the same from age 6 to 17. What changes is how a child meets them: with hands and pictures first, then cards and blocks, then real code.

Age is a starting point, never a limit. Each unit says what a learner should be able to do first and what it leads to. A learner who is ready moves on, at any age.

    • Sense

    Notice the world: switches, light, distance, cameras.

    • Decide

    Choose what to do: sequences, conditions, states.

    • Act

    Make something happen: lights, sound, wheels, arms.

    • Power and safety

    Keep power and people safe: the right supply, a driver, a stop switch.

    • Test and debug

    Prove it works, find what doesn't, and improve it.

Find a starting point

Tick what the learner can already show, not what they have heard of. The pathway lists the units they are ready for, at any age. Nothing here is saved.

Hands and pictures 0/19 ticked
Act
Decide
Sense
Power and safety
Test and debug
Engineering practice
Cards and blocks 0/19 ticked
Act
Decide
Sense
Power and safety
Test and debug
Engineering practice
Arduino code 0/22 ticked
Act
Decide
Sense
Power and safety
Test and debug
Engineering practice
Systems 0/14 ticked
Act
Decide
Sense
Power and safety
Test and debug
Engineering practice

2 ready from here. First: R06-U1 Machines Around Us.

Ready now

  1. R06-U1 · Little Inventors · usually age 6

    Machines Around Us

    New: Kinds of movement, Predict and test, Safe making

  2. R06-U3 · Little Inventors · usually age 6

    Robot Instructions

    New: Ordering steps, Try again

Age bands

Ages 15–17 · Text code and simulation

Autonomy Innovators

Feedback control, vision, robot software and responsible autonomy.

For the adult leading the sessions, and for learners planning their own path.

How they learn
By designing systems in C++ or Python, using simulation as preparation, and proving behaviour with measured trials.
The adult's role
An adult reviews safety, tools and higher-risk subsystems.
Session
90–120 minutes
Screen time
Longer design and analysis sessions, always tied to physical tests.
Reading
Technical documentation and datasheets.
Evidence of learning
A design dossier: code, test logs with data, a failure analysis and limits.
Hardware
Arduino, Raspberry Pi Pico, ESP32 or a Raspberry Pi computer. Many of these boards are 3.3 V: use level shifting for 5 V parts. Advance only after driver and power competency.
In this studio today
Unit outlines. A later phase.

To start R15-U1 or R16-U1, the learner should be able to

  • Levers and gears
  • Mechanical assembly
  • Analog readings in code
  • Failure analysis
Later units in this band also draw on (17)
  • Servo angles
  • Calibration
  • Power budget
  • Measuring error
  • States
  • Repeatable trials
  • Data-driven tuning
  • Help or harm
  • Original design
  • Functions
  • Versions and changes
  • Simulation limits
  • Motor drivers
  • Safe default
  • Meeting a specification
  • Explaining a design
  • Documenting

Ready for more? Any later unit is open, whatever the learner's age. Use “Find a starting point” above.

Safety for every band (the adult checks before power-on)
  • Low voltage only: battery packs or USB. Never mains electricity.
  • Never connect a motor straight to a controller pin: use a driver and a separate supply.
  • Every moving robot has a power-off switch within reach that cuts the motor battery (or all power). A software stop button is extra, never a replacement.
  • No coin or button cells and no loose small magnets; battery compartments screwed shut.
  • Guard wheels and moving parts against pinched fingers; keep robots slow and indoors.
  • No exposed lithium cells, improvised chargers or lasers.
  • No Li-ion, LiPo or RC packs: AA alkaline or NiMH cells in a closed holder with a switch, or USB.
  • Check polarity and voltage before power-on; a 3.3 V board must not receive 5 V signals.

Usually age 15

  1. R15-U1

    Mechanisms and CAD

    How should a robot arm be built?

    Build: Prototype robot gripper

    • Act
    • Power and safety
    How it connects
    Starts from
    • Levers and gears
    • Mechanical assembly
    Builds
    • Design a mechanism in CAD, with its degrees of freedom and loads.
    Leads to

    Outline · not written yet

  2. R15-U2

    Position and Motion

    How can joints reach a position?

    Build: Servo-operated arm joints

    • Sense
    • Act
    How it connects
    Starts from
    • Servo angles
    • Calibration
    • CAD mechanisms
    • Power budget
    Builds
    • Move robot joints to measured, repeatable positions.
    Leads to

    Outline · not written yet

  3. R15-U3

    Coordinates and Reach

    How does joint motion move the end effector?

    Build: Arm workspace mapping

    • Decide
    • Test and debug
    How it connects
    Starts from
    • Joint control
    • Measuring error
    Builds
    • Relate joint angles to where an arm can reach.
    Leads to

    Outline · not written yet

  4. R15-U4

    Pick and Place

    Can an arm repeat a useful task?

    Build: Safe low-payload pick-and-place arm

    • Decide
    • Act
    • Test and debug
    How it connects
    Starts from
    • Reach and kinematics
    • States
    • Repeatable trials
    Builds
    • Automate a repeated physical task and measure its reliability.
    Leads to

    Outline · not written yet

Usually age 16

  1. R16-U1

    Images as Sensor Data

    How does a robot see objects?

    Build: Camera-based colour tracker

    • Sense
    • Test and debug
    How it connects
    Starts from
    • Analog readings in code
    • Failure analysis
    Builds
    • Use camera images as sensor data and measure how reliable detection is.
    Leads to

    Outline · not written yet

  2. R16-U2

    Object Detection and Actuation

    How can vision control a physical action?

    Build: Vision-triggered conveyor or servo sorter

    • Sense
    • Decide
    • Act
    How it connects
    Starts from
    • Vision
    • Joint control
    • States
    Builds
    • Measure and budget the delay from sensing to acting.
    • Send messages between boards (serial or I²C) and handle a lost message.
    Leads to

    Outline · not written yet

  3. R16-U3

    Machine Learning Literacy

    When is ML useful, and when does it fail?

    Build: Toy object classifier

    • Sense
    • Test and debug
    How it connects
    Starts from
    • Vision
    • Data-driven tuning
    • Help or harm
    Builds
    • Train and test a simple classifier, and find where it fails.
    • Weigh safety, privacy and fairness in how a robot is used.
    Leads to

    Outline · not written yet

  4. R16-U4

    Sort for a Purpose

    Can our system improve a real workflow?

    Build: Camera-based sorting robot

    • Sense
    • Decide
    • Act
    • Test and debug
    How it connects
    Starts from
    • Latency
    • ML literacy
    • Automation
    • Original design
    Builds
    • Show with evidence that a robot improves a real workflow.
    Leads to

    Outline · not written yet

Usually age 17

  1. R17-U1

    Robotics Software Systems

    How do robot components communicate?

    Build: ROS 2 simulated robot

    • Sense
    • Decide
    • Act
    How it connects
    Starts from
    • States
    • Latency
    • Functions
    • Communication between boards
    • Versions and changes
    Builds
    • Split a robot program into parts that pass messages.
    Leads to

    Outline · not written yet

  2. R17-U2

    Build and Simulate

    Can a simulation inform a physical design?

    Build: Simulated robot model

    • Test and debug
    • Decide
    How it connects
    Starts from
    • Modular robot software
    • Simulation limits
    Builds
    • Use a simulation to inform a physical design, and document the gap.
    Leads to

    Outline · not written yet

  3. R17-U3

    Safe Autonomy

    How should an autonomous robot respond to failure?

    Build: Navigation prototype with emergency stop

    • Decide
    • Power and safety
    • Test and debug
    How it connects
    Starts from
    • Modular robot software
    • Motor drivers
    • Power budget
    • Failure analysis
    • Safe default
    Builds
    • Design and test what an autonomous robot does when a part fails.
    • Plan a path and choose actions that reach a goal safely.
    Leads to

    Outline · not written yet

  4. R17-U4

    Community Robotics Capstone

    What useful robot can we design responsibly?

    Build: Autonomous delivery or assistance prototype

    • Sense
    • Decide
    • Act
    • Power and safety
    • Test and debug
    How it connects
    Starts from
    • Fail-safe autonomy
    • Planning
    • Simulation to design
    • Responsible robotics
    • Real-world value
    • Meeting a specification
    • Explaining a design
    • Documenting
    Builds
    • Design, build, test and present a useful robot responsibly, end to end.
    Leads to
    The destination: a robotics engineer's capstone.

    Outline · not written yet

Units come from the curriculum candidate v0.1. Outlines are a title, a question and an intended prototype, not written lessons. Nothing here is classroom-validated yet, and age is a starting guide: learners can start wherever their experience fits.