From LEGO to a Locally Designed Robotics Kit: The Evolution of Pueblo Robotics
At Pueblo Science, our approach to STEM education has always been guided by a simple principle: educational innovation should be accessible to everyone, regardless of geography, resources, or socioeconomic circumstances.
Since launching our RISE program, we have worked to empower teachers and students in low-resource communities through hands-on, locally relevant STEM experiences. In our early years, this meant designing activities with readily available materials that communities could continue using long after our workshops ended.
As our work expanded internationally, we began exploring robotics education—and discovered that bringing robotics into diverse learning environments required more than simply providing the technology.
It required designing the technology around the people who would use it.
The Beginning: Making Robotics Accessible
In 2017, one of our funders asked us to introduce robotics to students at St. Stanislaus College in Georgetown, Guyana, using LEGO Mindstorms.
The experience was transformative—not only for the students, but for our team as well.
The technology was engaging and allowed students to build, program, test, and experiment. But it also highlighted a significant barrier: cost.
Commercial robotics platforms can be powerful learning tools, but their price can put them out of reach for many schools and communities. If robotics education was going to reach the students who could benefit from it most, we needed to think differently about how the technology was designed and delivered.
That realization became a turning point for us.
Bringing Robotics to the Community
In 2018, we brought robotics directly into the community by organizing a public robotics training and competition at Dufferin Mall in Toronto.
Our goal was simple: reach children who might never actively seek out a science camp or STEM program.
During the event, we distributed 100 RGB line-following robot kits. Children of different ages assembled and programmed their first robots, often with no prior robotics experience.
The enthusiasm was immediate.
But what stayed with us was not simply how much students enjoyed building robots. It was how quickly they began to see themselves differently—as problem-solvers, engineers, and innovators.
The following year, we returned to Guyana, delivering robotics activities in New Amsterdam and Linden as part of an intensive two-day STEM training program. Robotics quickly became one of the most popular components.
After just 90 minutes of instruction, students were building, testing, and competing with their own robots.
The confidence created by hands-on learning was becoming just as important as the technology itself.
We planned to expand these robotics initiatives in 2020.
Then the pandemic changed everything.
A New Challenge: Technology That Teachers Could Use
When in-person programming resumed in 2023, we introduced a new Arduino-based robotics platform across the Philippines.
The expanded kit allowed students and teachers to explore a wide range of applications, incorporating sensors such as ultrasonic distance, temperature, vibration, pulse oximetry, and soil moisture.
Our goal was not simply to teach robotics. We wanted teachers to be able to integrate technology into existing science and STEM curricula in meaningful ways.
Teacher feedback from trainings in Palawan, Davao, and Iloilo was overwhelmingly positive.
But a recurring challenge emerged: programming.
For many participants, it was their first exposure to coding. While teachers were excited about what the robotics kit could do, the learning curve associated with Arduino programming created a barrier to implementing the activities independently.
When we returned to additional locations in 2024, this challenge became even clearer.
Teachers told us they valued the training, but many found it difficult to continue using the activities on their own.
Common challenges included:
Limited confidence in programming and electronics
Time required to assemble and troubleshoot circuits
Difficulty sourcing reliable replacement components locally
Limited access to ongoing technical support
These experiences led us to an important realization:
Successful educational technology isn't defined by what happens during training. It's defined by what teachers are able to do after the training ends.
The problem wasn't simply how to make a more capable robotics kit.
It was how to make a kit that teachers could confidently use, adapt, troubleshoot, and continue using after we left.
2025: Rethinking the Robotics Kit
In 2025, we set out to redesign the Pueblo Robotics Kit from the ground up.
Rather than simply adding more features, we focused on removing barriers.
Making Assembly Simpler
One of the first challenges we addressed was assembly.
Teachers were spending a significant portion of workshop time building and troubleshooting circuits before they could even begin exploring the concepts behind the activities.
We developed a custom printed circuit board (PCB) that reduced assembly time to less than 20 minutes and dramatically simplified troubleshooting.
The result was more than a faster setup. It gave teachers more time to focus on teaching and learning.
Making Programming More Accessible
Programming was another major barrier.
For someone encountering coding for the first time, typing, debugging, and uploading Arduino code can be intimidating. A technical problem that might take an experienced programmer seconds to solve can stop a beginner entirely.
Our solution was to introduce block-based programming while maintaining Arduino compatibility for more advanced users.
This hybrid approach creates an accessible entry point for beginners while preserving opportunities for deeper learning as confidence grows.
Teachers can begin with visual programming and gradually move toward more advanced coding when they are ready.
Designing for Local Access
We also recognized that a robotics platform is only useful if the components can be replaced when something breaks.
While the custom PCB and microcontroller became specialized components, we committed to making these parts affordable and readily available throughout the Philippines.
This principle is central to our approach: accessibility isn't just about the initial cost of a kit. It's about whether a teacher can keep using it months and years later.
A Teacher's Perspective
“What I like most is assembling the robot from the beginning until it moves and follows the direction of the sensor."
—Amanda Putri/Indonesia
“I especially enjoyed the experiential simulation process. I really enjoyed trying each robotic kit module firsthand. I found the modules to be unlike most STEM implementations in our country.”
-Teacher/Indonesia
“We have been asked to include robotics in our lessons, but I have not found one that I and my students could do in class until the Pueblo kit. The training that came with it was really useful and easy to follow. I have acquired and used 10 kits for my students, and they all love it! I am planning to use the kits again this year.”
-Teacher/Philippines
A teacher's experience is one of the most important measures of whether an educational technology platform is actually working.
The Next Generation of the Pueblo Robotics Kit
In 2026, we continued refining the platform based on direct feedback from teachers and students.
Recent improvements include:
Additional outputs, including servomotors, a buzzer, and a water pump
New sensors for ambient temperature and humidity, pH, CO₂, particulate matter, and turbidity
A lighter wheel system to reduce shipping costs
Pre-programmed microcontrollers that eliminate software installation challenges
Browser-based software that works across Android devices, iPhones, tablets, Chromebooks, and laptops
Simplified deployment in environments with limited internet connectivity
These improvements aren't features added simply because the technology allows them.
They are responses to real needs we encountered in classrooms and training environments.
That distinction matters.
From Training to Independence
From 2025 to 2026, we trained more than 570 teachers and 520 students across Jakarta, South Kalimantan, and multiple regions in the Philippines.
The response has been encouraging. More importantly, we are seeing increased confidence among educators implementing robotics activities independently.
For us, that is the measure of progress.
The goal isn't for teachers to become robotics engineers.
The goal is for a teacher to feel confident enough to introduce a robotics activity to their students, troubleshoot a problem, adapt the lesson to their curriculum, and keep going.
Innovation Through Continuous Learning
The evolution of the Pueblo Robotics Kit reflects a broader lesson about educational innovation:
Technology alone does not create impact.
Impact happens when technology is designed around the realities of the people who use it.
Every iteration of our robotics platform has been shaped by feedback from teachers, students, and communities. Each challenge—from cost and assembly to programming and component availability—became an opportunity to rethink how the technology could work better.
Our work is far from finished.
We continue to refine the software, improve compatibility with older devices, simplify deployment, and explore new ways to make robotics education more accessible.
Because accessibility is not a feature that can simply be checked off a list.
It is an ongoing design commitment.
Our goal remains unchanged: to ensure that every teacher and every student—regardless of location or resources—has the opportunity to engage with meaningful, hands-on STEM learning.
Because the future of innovation depends not only on creating new technologies, but on making those technologies accessible to everyone.