Engineering
Robotics
Build a machine that senses, decides, and moves. No prior coding, no prior electronics, no cost to you.
Pilot cohort — applications open
What this track is
The IOI track teaches you to think in algorithms. The IMO track teaches you to think in proofs. This one teaches you to make a machine sense the world and act on it.
Robotics is the entry ramp. It asks for less than the Olympiad tracks do — no programming background, no electronics background — and it is built for students who have never written code and are not sure whether they want to.
Over eight sessions you go from your first line of code to a robot that drives itself around obstacles. You do not need to own anything to take part: the kits are shared and provided, and every session opens in a browser simulator so nobody is stuck waiting for hardware.
The eight sessions
Session 1
Sense, Think, Act — and your first line of code
The loop every robot runs on: read the world, decide, do something about it. You write and run code on day one.Session 2
Digital signals — buttons, buzzers, and a working traffic light
On or off, and what you can build from only that. You finish with a traffic light that sequences on its own.Session 3
Analog signals — reading light, position, and temperature
The world is not on or off. Reading a value that slides between the two, and deciding what counts as bright, warm or far.Session 4
Servos — controlled, precise movement
Telling a motor to go to an exact angle and hold it there. The difference between moving and being controlled.Session 5
Ultrasonic sensing — measuring distance and reacting to it
Sound out, echo back, distance calculated. Your robot gets its first sense of what is in front of it.Session 6
DC motors and drivers — making something actually drive
Why a motor needs a driver, and how to make a chassis move where you point it.Session 7
Integration — an obstacle-avoiding robot, built by you
Every part from the previous six sessions, wired into one machine that navigates a space without hitting anything.Session 8
Showcase challenge
You put what you built in front of the room, explain how it works, and take it through a challenge.
Who it's for
- Grades 8–12, roughly ages 13 to 18
- No programming experience required
- No hardware required from you — kits are shared and provided at sessions
- Comfortable with basic arithmetic. That is the whole prerequisite.
How it runs
8 weekly sessions
90 minutes each, one session a week.
Teams of 4–5
Each team shares one kit, so you are building alongside other people rather than beside them.
Simulator first
Every session starts in a free browser simulator. Nobody sits waiting for hardware to reach their table.
Free, entirely
No fee for the sessions, the kits or the materials. WonderWhyPk is pro bono.
You do not need to bring anything.
Not a laptop, not a kit, not any prior experience. The school provides a room; we bring everything else. That is the whole arrangement.
What you keep
Everything you write
All your code, wiring diagrams and session notes stay yours. You leave with the working files, not just the memory of the session.
A project you can show
A working robot you built and can explain — the kind of concrete thing a university application can point at.
Where it leads
Two directions, and you do not have to choose now. National robotics competitions take the machine further; the IOI track takes the programming half further, and it is a natural next step for students who find that is the part they like.
Competitions Pakistani students can enter
All four are listed with eligibility details in the STEM Hub, alongside eight more.
Questions
Nothing. Not the sessions, not the kits, not the materials. There is no fee at any point and there is nothing to buy.
No. This track assumes you have never written a line of code. Session 1 starts from nothing, and the only thing we expect you to bring is comfort with basic arithmetic.
No. The simulator runs in a browser and we arrange lab machines for the sessions. If you have a laptop you are welcome to bring it, but nobody is excluded for not having one.
Each session builds on the last, so tell your team and we will get you the notes and code from the one you missed. Come to the next session anyway — catching up in the room with your team works better than doing it alone.
You work in a team of four or five around one kit. Everyone writes code and everyone wires components — the team is how you learn, not a queue for the hardware.
You keep your code and your project. If the programming half is what grabbed you, the IOI track picks up from there. If the machine itself is what grabbed you, the competitions above are the next step.
Apply for the pilot cohort — it is free
Register freeNever written a line of code?
That is exactly who this track is built for. Eight sessions, a shared kit, and a robot you built yourself.
No fees. No spam. Just opportunities.