Introduction
The Black Hole’s ‘RoboLab program is a 3-month-long learning experience designed for students from Grade 4 to Grade 8. Over the course of 12 weeks, with a 2 hour long session each week, the program takes students from complete beginners to confident young inventors. Through a highly interactive, project-first learning approach, students learn by discovery rather than by memorizing from textbooks.
Our Philosophy
Most introductory robotics classes start with definitions and facts, and then gradually get to the point where you can follow instructions to build a simple circuit. We don’t do that. We introduce kids to a problem, get them curious, and hand them the components to try and figure out a solution with their own hands, and then explain the science behind why it worked. That’s project-first learning.
Our goal isn’t to make kids memorise textbook definitions so they can pass an ‘electronics test’, the goal is to turn them into INVENTORS. The type of thinkers that can come up with ingenious solutions to problems on the spot. Along the way, we want you to burn things out and mess things up, because this is how you learn the limits of components and materials.
If a circuit blows an LED, or code freezes, good! We do hands-on debugging to figure out why that happened! In real engineering, things rarely work on the first try, and learning how to trace a problem and fix it is the most vital skill an Inventor can have.
We believe this process of learning by discovery creates a more powerful and lasting experience. It channels the inner curiosity of every child, and gets them excited to learn.
By the end of this program, we want to instill your child with a love for engineering, and a toolkit of reasoning, problem solving, design and theory, to ensure that they can and want to invent on their own, long after the course ends!
Program Outline
This program is specifically designed for students from Grade 4 to Grade 8, while taking inspiration from course books meant for university students. The instructors have carefully selected material that covers all of the major domains in the field of electronics, to ensure a broad and well rounded foundation for students.
Naturally, the program has a greater focus on robotics, hence the name “robotics for inventors”. However, the ultimate goal is to equip students with the skills and confidence to branch out into whichever areas of electronics and engineering they become curious about in the future.
Students will be randomly assigned into teams of 3. From past experience, this has proven to be the ideal team size for hands-on robotics, with small groups allowing each student to participate actively. While also instilling students with valuable team-working experience. Ensuring that no student is left behind. And allowing the program to be more ambitious in its course contents and the components that it can use, since team members can share equipment and components throughout the course.
Please note that these teams are not final at the beginning of the program and may be changed if a student is not participating actively, working well with the group, or meeting the expectations of the course.
All components, tools, and supplies used throughout this program are included within the registration fee. However, for their personal project, students may decide to purchase other external components. If you are curious, below is a complete list of the components used throughout the program.
Also, below is a document (Robotics for Inventors) containing some of the projects that the students will be working on.
Please note that this list is not definitive, and some of these projects might be omitted due to time constraint issues.
Prerequisites
- A laptop and
- Genuine Curiosity
(A note to parents: Please make sure your child actually wants to be here! This course is designed for young minds who love to tinker, ask questions, and build things with their hands. It’s completely fine if your child has no experience at all, but make sure that this is something they want to do.)
That’s it!
Everything else will be provided on-site at The Black Hole.
About the Instructors
M. Umer Farooq
Umer Farooq is an 18-year-old college student who has been passionately exploring electronics and robotics for the past six years. He describes himself as an inventor at heart—driven by a lifelong curiosity to take things apart, understand how they work, and, more often than not, try to put them back together.
Rather than presenting himself as someone who has all the answers, Umer believes that curiosity is more important than having all the answers. His aim as an instructor is to encourage students to ask questions, experiment freely, make mistakes, and discover things for themselves. For him, the most successful outcome of a class is when a student comes up with a question that even he cannot immediately answer.
Over the past year, Umer has delivered robotics and electronics sessions at various educational settings and recently led the robotics component of The Black Hole Summer Camp. His teaching approach is strongly hands-on and project-based, using experimentation and playful exploration to turn complex concepts into engaging learning experiences.
For Umer, there is something particularly rewarding about seeing a student’s face light up when they discover that building, experimenting – and even making things spark – can be a form of learning too.
Fatima Mehdi
Fatima Mehdi is an 18-year-old student preparing to begin university. Fascinated by electronics since the fourth grade, she began exploring it more seriously around five years ago. Her curiosity extends well beyond electronics and robotics – she enjoys learning new skills, experimenting with unfamiliar ideas, and constantly discovering how things work.
For Fatima, the most rewarding part of electronics is the moment when an idea becomes something real: when a circuit built from scratch actually works and something created by her own hands comes to life. That sense of accomplishment, curiosity, and excitement is what first drew her towards electronics and robotics -and what she hopes to share with students at TBH RoboLab.
Through the programme, Fatima aims to create an environment where students can explore, experiment, make mistakes, solve problems, and experience the joy of turning their own ideas into working projects. Her goal is not simply to teach technical skills, but to help young learners develop the curiosity, confidence, and creative thinking that make learning an exciting experience.
FAQs
Q: Is there any prior experience required?
A: No. This course is designed specifically for complete beginners. Students will be guided through every concept from the ground up.
Q: Do students keep the components?
A: Components used during the weekly classes remain the property of the program so they can be reused in future sessions. However, any components purchased by a student for their personal final project belong to them and may be taken home.
Q: Does every student receive a certificate?
A: Yes. Students who complete the program will receive a certificate of participation. Additional awards may also be presented for categories such as Creativity, Innovation, Teamwork, Perseverance, and Outstanding Project.
Registration Form
Please fill in the registration form here to apply.
