The last course on the Robotics pathway ends in the air. On Course 5, Robocoders build the drone’s controller, program its flight and watch it map the room as it flies.
By Robocode. For parents, 13 October 2026, 1 min read
The board at the centre of the drone is our own design. Before the final one, there were three others.
Version 2Version 3Version 4Version 5, the final boardVersion 5, the backEach board carries an ESP32-S3 module to run the flight code, with connections for the four motors and for the sensors.
- Version 2. A square test board, in purple.
- Version 3. The same square, in blue.
- Version 4. A new outline, in black.
- Version 5. The board becomes the frame: four arms, a motor at the end of each, and our logo on the back.
“This is the final stage of the drone’s development,” one of our Mentors says in the film below. The drone already flies on its own and keeps itself level.
Robocoders build the controller themselves: two joysticks wired on a breadboard. On the laptop, the flight app takes a path. They click points on a grid in the order to fly them, then press Go.
As it flies, the drone measures how far it has travelled. That is a branch of robotics called SLAM: simultaneous localisation and mapping.
Course 5 is the fifth step of the Robotics pathway for ages 10 to 17. Every Robocoder starts with a Free Tech Assessment.
Book a Free Tech Assessment
30, 45 or 90 minutes, depending on the centre, in person, with a Mentor. No card details until it is a fit.
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