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From self-driving cars to ocean-cleaning automatons, robots play a major part in modern scientific discoveries — and so do your high school students! This new generation of robotics engineers will use their knowledge and understanding of robotics fundamentals to create systems that improve our lives, save our planet, and bring us further into the future.
Prepare your high schoolers to think creatively and innovatively when you plan cutting-edge class projects for your high school robotics class. These projects range from beginning to advanced levels, allowing you to scaffold your teaching for your class’s skill levels or challenge learners.
Easy High School Robotics Projects for Beginners
Once students have a basic understanding of computer science and mechanical engineering, they can start on these beginning robotics projects. Reinforce high school NGSS for engineering design with projects that incorporate robotics fundamentals.
Teach robotic basics with Wobblebots
If your students have never built a robot before or you only have one class period to work on them, a Wobblebot is the perfect answer. All they need is a battery pack, a small motor, a few circuits, and materials you already have in the classroom (such as cardboard, glue, wobbly eyes, and pipe cleaners).
Score an academic goal by building a soccer-playing robot
Turn high schoolers’ favorite activity into their new class project! Beginning students can follow the instructions on a pre-designed kit to make their electronic athletes, or they can meet a higher challenge by using small motors, Bluetooth modules, battery packs, and jumper wires to build their bots from scratch.
Design a robot that waters plants
Combine your environmental engineering unit and your robotics project with an assignment that uses robots to help Earth. Have students use a pre-designed kit or their own materials to create a robot that can measure moisture in the soil of their plants, store water, and distribute the water when needed.
Are your future engineers ready for a challenge? These intermediate-level class projects for high school robotics classes are a great test of teamwork, engineering understanding, and creativity. They may take two to three class periods or longer if you’d like students to take more of a designing role in the project.
Harness the power of the sun to create a solar car
Open-ended and innovative, a solar car project is a great way for students to showcase their engineering knowledge and creativity. Have them bring in a variety of materials to build their cars, including shoeboxes and soda bottles, while you provide the solar panels and motors.
Reach into the future with a robotic arm
A robotic arm project can be as simple or as complex as you make it! Use hydraulics, a pre-designed kit, or your own motors and buttons to create a robotic arm that lifts and moves objects on your desk. Intermediate to advanced students can design their own arms, while high schoolers without as much experience can follow prompts and instructions.
Control robots with your voice
High schoolers may be used to voice-controlled robots in their homes and phones, but what about in their classrooms? Show them how to create a robot that follows speech commands with this medium-difficulty robotics project. A pre-designed kit or independently engineered design are both options, though students should have access to Bluetooth devices that can receive voice commands.
Advanced Class Projects for High School Robotics Class
Upper-level high school robotics students, including teams preparing for competitions or senior high school science fairs, need a multi-faceted approach to their next robotics projects. Use these open-ended project ideas and resources to guide their learning and help students move to the next step of their engineering education. Some assignments may take a week or two to complete, while others may be a semester-long project for robotics students.
Slam into robotic knowledge with a SLAM project
SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) robots are an excellent project for expert robotics students looking for a customizable challenge. They can design a rover or drone that navigates a space autonomously, whether that’s a small maze or an entire classroom. Encourage advanced high schoolers to give their robots a specific function to perform in their designated space as well!
Build a humanoid robot that acts like a person
How humanlike can your high schoolers get their robots to be? Using their own designs and a selection of materials, advanced robotics students can create humanoid robots that walk, talk, and use AI to make decisions. Have students scale their projects down to a model size if you don’t have the space for multiple bots, or encourage them to create larger humanoids for a full-class project.Â
Use robotics systems to help the environment
Scientists are using robotics to aid in environmental clean-up efforts, and your students can develop the next innovative revolution in this field! Give high schoolers the opportunity to craft AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) to monitor and clean up ocean ecosystems, pollution mitigation bots to clean the air we breathe, robotic recycling systems to separate and reuse recyclable materials, or any other environmental project they can imagine for themselves.
Robotics Competitions for High Schoolers
Use class projects for high school robotics class to take your students’ skills on the road at these popular robotics competitions. Each one has its own focus and requirements, letting your students gear their projects toward the upcoming competition they’re most interested in.
- VEX Robotics World Championship: This competition features projects using VEX IQ technology, which blends robotics and computer science in students’ choice of three different coding languages.
- FIRST Robotics Competition: With adult mentors, teams create robots to play a game on a themed field with a project that combines sports and engineering, along with CAD and various programming languages.
- World Robotics Olympiad: Tournaments in 95 countries around the world challenge four different age groups in project-based initiatives that promote robotics in STEM education.
- Sea Air and Land Challenge: This STEM initiative encourages students to build a robotic system based on the needs of military and first responders, including unmanned submersibles, drones, or rovers used for reconnaissance and surveillance.
- Robofest: This robot festival features different projects, competitions, and events, along with a choice of robotics kits and programming languages for students to design their robots.
Engineer a rigorous robotics program with TPT
The students sitting in your robotics class right now will be the engineers we’ll need in the future. Foster their intelligence, intuition, and ingenuity with high school robotics resources that challenge and inspire robotics students of any skill level — or even awaken a passion in students who haven’t built robots in the past!