Applications Open! Enroll for Summer 2027 at 2026 Tuition Pricing Until Sept 30
Build, program, and pitch a robotic solution in this 2-week program for high school students at UC Berkeley.
Seats are limited, and this course may sell out for summer 2027. Enroll early to save your seat.
Course Description
How can a robot sense its environment and act on a real need? Students trace the history of robotics from early mechanisms to industrial systems, soft robotics, autonomous machines, and AI-driven automation. Examples from healthcare, manufacturing, architecture, space exploration, and disaster response show how design choices depend on the problem being solved.
Hands-on work introduces circuitry, sensors, mechanical design, building, and programming. Students assemble and code robotic systems, experiment with an XRP robot, and explore soft-robotics fabrication. Guided practice and testing help them see how hardware, software, and physical constraints interact when a system does not behave as planned.
For the capstone, teams identify a real-world problem, research stakeholders, write a focused problem statement, and propose an innovative robotic solution. They develop the design, consider function and constraints, and present how the robot could address the need. Industry speakers and visits, when available, add context from the Bay Area robotics ecosystem.
This two-week full-day academy is part of Summer Discovery at UC Berkeley, held on the university’s campus. Students spend the full program focused on one intensive academy. The academy is available to residential and commuter students. Beyond class, students connect focused academic work with campus life, growing independence, and clearer direction about what students may want to study or pursue next.
A supplemental course fee of $195 applies.
What Will You Do?
• Trace major milestones and emerging trends in robotics
• Build and program an XRP robotic system
• Connect circuitry and sensors to physical behavior
• Experiment with mechanical design and soft robotics
• Research stakeholders and define a real-world problem
• Design and present an innovative robotic solution
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Explain how mechanical, electronic, and computational elements form a robotic system
• Build and program a robot to complete defined behaviors
• Develop and defend a stakeholder-centered robotic solution
Students leave with built robotic systems, code, and a capstone proposal connecting engineering choices to a real-world need.
Why Robotics Skills Matter?
Robotics makes systems thinking tangible. A robot must connect mechanical parts, circuits, sensors, code, and a defined task. When one element fails, students diagnose the interaction instead of treating each component in isolation.
Designing for a stakeholder also keeps engineering focused on usefulness. Students research a problem, compare ideas, test assumptions, and communicate how a proposed system would work. These habits strengthen engineering design, computational thinking, collaboration, and responsible innovation. Together, the work reinforces careful reasoning and the ability to revise a conclusion when new evidence changes the picture.
Who Should Attend?
This academy is for high school students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade and are interested in robotics, engineering, coding, design, automation, or applied problem-solving. It fits students who want to understand both how robots work and why particular systems are built.
Participants should be ready to build, program, troubleshoot, collaborate, and present a team solution. No prior robotics experience is required. Persistence is important because testing and revision are expected parts of engineering work. Success depends on careful preparation, steady participation, and respect for classmates’ perspectives throughout the course.
Recommended Program
Based on students surveyed in Summer Discovery’s 2026 UC Berkeley program.
Why UC Berkeley?
UC Berkeley gives high-school students the opportunity to pursue serious academic exploration in a campus environment shaped by scientific inquiry, new ideas, and an active connection to the wider Bay Area. The Berkeley Hills, distinctive architecture, and green spaces make the experience feel different from an ordinary school routine.
Students learn alongside peers, become more independent, and experience the pace and possibility of university life. The Bay Area context adds exposure to a region influenced by research, technology, entrepreneurship, culture, and public debate. For families, the value is not campus prestige alone. It is the combination of academic depth, community, and a student gaining clearer insight into the subjects, environments, and possible directions that genuinely motivate them.
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive