Robotics Masterminds: Design, Build & Code

What Will You Do?

• Explore MakeCode blocks and JavaScript to program a Hummingbird robotics kit

• Build crank and cable mechanisms that turn motor movement into useful motion

• Program a rover to avoid obstacles, follow a line, and respond to radio controls

• Create a robotic flower and use sensors and variables to control its movement

• Sketch, prototype, and outline the code for an original robot based on your interests

• Build and present a working prototype using at least three inputs and three outputs

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain how sensor inputs, a program, and physical outputs work together in a robotic device

• Apply MakeCode blocks and JavaScript to control lights, sounds, and movement

• Design, test, revise, and present a working robot prototype with multiple inputs and outputs

Students will finish an original robot prototype and presentation, with new coding and building skills and ideas they can keep exploring.

Why Creative Robotics Skills Matter

A robot gives students a visible way to test an idea. If a rover misses a turn, they can examine the sensor, the code, and the build to find what needs to change. This process helps students break a problem into smaller parts and use the results of a test to guide their next attempt.

Planning a prototype also asks students to explain what they want a device to do and put those steps in a workable order. Working with partners and presenting a finished design gives them practice sharing decisions and describing how a creation works.

Who Should Attend?

This course is for students who have completed 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th grade and enjoy building, coding, making things move, or figuring out how devices work. Creative makers can explore how everyday materials and electronic parts become a robot that responds to its surroundings.

Students should be ready to follow guided tutorials, sketch ideas, work with partners, and revise designs when a test reveals a problem. The course introduces block-based coding and JavaScript through hands-on projects.

View the eligibility requirements for the Institute for the Gifted on our FAQ page. A completed program application is required.

Based on students surveyed in Summer Discovery’s 2026 Cornell program.

Cornell’s Ithaca setting gives elementary and middle school students an adventurous first experience of campus life, surrounded by Finger Lakes gorges, waterfalls, and a landscape shaped by research, agriculture, and invention. The setting makes learning feel different from an ordinary school day and gives students plenty to notice and explore.

The program combines active academics with friendships, campus activities, clear routines, and support as students become more comfortable in a new environment. Students can try challenging ideas, share interests with peers, and enjoy the fun of living and learning on a university campus. For families, Cornell offers a structured elementary and middle school experience that balances learning and discovery with community, support, and growing independence.

A rover that detects an obstacle shows how robots gather information before choosing an action. Radio controls demonstrate how a person can send instructions to a device without a cable. A blooming robotic flower brings the same ideas into a creative model, where a sensor and a program control movement.

These examples let students explore several sides of robotics: designing a mechanism, writing instructions, choosing inputs, and deciding what a device should do. Researching Mars rovers and comparing coding languages adds context for the builds. Students can follow their curiosity into further coding, model making, or experiments with interactive designs.