Circuits2Robotics

How do electronics sense the world?

At our recent Circuits2Robotics workshop at the Bernards Library during NJ Maker Week, young learners explored this question through hands-on building and experimentation. From detecting obstacles to responding to light, learners got a glimpse of how electronics interact with the real world and power everyday technology around us.

Grateful to the NJ Library for hosting and supporting initiatives that spark curiosity and creativity in young learners. Workshops like these are a reminder of how important outreach programs are in making STEM accessible, engaging, and fun, especially for the next generation of makers and problem-solvers.

8 weeks of Robotics - Learn it the real way - with RaspberryPi, Python and open source hardware- beyond Lego type/Proprietary kits. Sessions @ Environmental Education Center- start Feb 21. Registration is open now!

Excited to see young makers tomorrow, introducing them to sensors and how electronics sense the world tomorrow @ The Bernards Township Library!

Kicking off 2026 with inspiration!
Here’s a look back at one of the highlights from 2025: Circuits2Robotics brought hands-on maker workshops to 200+ students from seven schools across Upstate NY at the Rochester Maker Faire!

As we step into 2026, our mission continues - expanding access to high‑impact experiential STEM learning and sparking curiosity in the next generation of makers. Let’s make this year more creative, and electrifying!

Combining physical computing with computer vision and ML algorithms alleviates the possibilities of tasks an AI system can perform.
And thus, the idea:
‘I wanted to build an AI physical system, something that I could control by just wiggling my fingers in air.’

Head over to the complete article by our founder, published in Towards AI to learn to build your first AI system with a Raspberry Pi: An introduction to Computer Vision and ML models with Raspberry Pi for Python coders.

Build Your First AI Project With a RaspberryPi: An Introduction to Computer Vision and ML Models Wit Combining physical computing with computer vision and ML algorithms alleviates the possibilities of tasks an AI system can perform. And…

It was great to be a part of Maker Faire 2023! A place where technology and creativity amalgamate in ways unimaginable.

Circuits2Robotics team wins 1st place at the Prestigious Robocup Junior USA 2023 championship!!
We won in the Onstage category. Our team built a system of four autonomous robots for this challenge.
The main robot is built on the principles of a self navigating autonomous car, which can distinguish between moving and static obstacles; navigates its way through a map and makes decisions like when to stop, turn; and interacts with other robots in the system.
Here is a glimpse of what our team built for this championship.

Look what we just built!
This is a small rover, we call it 'Explorer' because it explores different surfaces.It's autonomous, its able to make some decisions on its own.Our 'Explorer' can drive itself, it can sense what is around it and take actions from the sensory inputs, it's eyes. It can even be updated with new programs to make it even better at it's job or to perform a completely different job.
Real life autonomous rovers are much more complex but these are the very same principles they work on. This 'explorer rover' systematically goes over an area while staying out of trouble like falling off a cliff. It has two 'Cliff' sensors up front. These are infrared emitter-sensor pairs that allow it to sense cliffs and plain-old table edges!The microcontroller RaspberryPi Pico fixed on the chassis works as the central control unit allowing it to perform actions- like backing up, beeping alarm and changing direction on appropriate sensory inputs.
See illustration below for all the details!

All kids learn about conductors and insulators at school. We take the same foundational knowledge and teach them to think like makers.

A tilt switch is an example of the same- it’s simply a metal ball-bearing with two metal pins(conductor) inside a container(air as insulator). When upright, the ball bearing rests on top of the metal pins, and the circuit closes( switch turns on) and when tilted, the ball bearing slides out, and the switch goes off.
And what can be done with a tilt switch? Use it to detect incline in your robotics!

Combine it with a microcontroller and a few lines of code and you could use it to detect posture or to detect incline of your robotic arm or even a simple Pedometer. Imagination is the only limit.

Circuits2Robotics online fall session begins in September.

This is the posture detector gadget our budding makers recently made.
To use: Peel the backing tape, paste it on a person's back and watch it trigger with a loud sound and blinking lights as the person slouches :-)

The circuit has a simple tilt switch to detect inclination combined with Pico microcontroller and Micropython code.