Filipe is a 12 year-old boy who started holidays last week. He “would like to stay at home playing computer games” but his mother registered him in ROB9-16 – Summer Holidays because “she thought I would like it”, said Filipe. Filipe and 27 students of 2nd and 3rd cycle are the first group that will participate in this Summer programme organised by the robotics and electronics club at Taguspark Campus – Instituto Superior Técnico.

Miguel and Pedro asked their parents to participate: “robotics is one of my extracurricular activities and I really like it. As soon as my father told me about ROB9-16, I didn’t think twice about it and I decided to come”, says Pedro. “We open the robot, we get familiar with its parts, we learn how to programme a robot and now we are setting it up so that it can move in a specific direction”, explains Miguel. “These students question everything and they always want to know more”, said Tiago Barra, one of the mentors of ROB9-16.

Besides programming, welding, printing and drawing in 3D, several other activities will be organised during this week. “We plan different activities to catch their attention so that we can have a productive week”, shares Tiago Barra. “These activities help them how to think, stimulates competitiveness and they have fun at the same time”, adds the mentor.

After a few attempts, the various mixed groups find out how to overcome the challenge. Almost at the end, Filipe’s enthusiasm is evident: ROB9-16 has definitely inspired him. “Steve Jobs and many others didn’t participate in such activities and they made history, so we don’t know where will we see these kids one day. The future belongs to them”, says Tiago Barra.