mentored by enthusiastic teachers as well as successful senior students and alumni, students create their robots on either the lego mindstorms platform with mindstorms compatible sensors and motors, or with programmable microcontrollers - such as the arduino family of microcontrollers - that interface with a variety of electrical components, all housed in a student-designed, mechanically functional structure. from robotics, students not only build up project management and teamwork skills but also learn a variety of useful technical skills including programming, electrical circuit design, mechanics, cad and cam.