Advanced Coding and Engineering Program
A.C.E. - Showcasing our
student's talents
The Advanced Coding and Engineering (ACE) program is an invite-only cohort focused on designing the futuristic technology seen in movies.
Through virtual lessons and in person design sessions, students tackle multi-functional problems where they learn to intuitively solve open-ended problems while understanding design trade-offs like time, complexity, and cost
Every month, we will have professional engineers come in to work alongside us and talk about their journey in engineering. they might even share some of the cool projects they’re working on as well!
PHASE 1: PYTHON AND CAMERA FOR HAND RECOGNITION
In this first phase, students are introduced to the fundamentals of coding and computer vision. They’ll start by using Python to create a system that can recognize simple hand gestures.
Learn Python coding to recognize hand signals using a camera.
Explore computer vision basics by teaching the system to "see" different gestures like a thumbs-up or wave.
Build foundational programming and problem-solving skills with hands-on coding projects.
This phase builds a solid foundation in coding and computational thinking that will be critical for later stages.
PHASE 2: VIDEO INPUT TO CIRCUIT OUTPUT
In Phase 2, students begin to bridge the digital and physical worlds by connecting their hand recognition code to control circuits and LEDs. They’ll see firsthand how software can directly influence hardware actions.
Connect the hand recognition software to circuits that trigger physical actions like lighting up LEDs.
Discover basic electronics and how software commands interact with real-world hardware.
Gain experience in combining coding with physical systems to control robotic components.
By the end of this phase, students will have a deeper understanding of how technology integrates into everyday devices.
PHASE 3: ROBOTIC HAND
In this final phase, students apply their knowledge to create a fully functional robotic hand. They will combine the recognition system and the circuit controls to build a robot that can mirror human gestures.
Assemble and program a robotic hand to respond to recognized hand signals.
Apply engineering principles to build hardware that mimics human hand movements.
Encourage creativity by allowing customization of the robotic hand’s design and functions.
This phase encourages students to bring their creativity to life by customizing their robotic designs and experimenting with functionality.
This is an advanced program
But it’s more about the interest and commitment. We’re looking for students 9+ that realize they like technology and designing. A good indicator is if they can watch a youtube video/ read an instruction manual to work on a project. These are also students who have already taken a HAK course, so our team will already know if there’s a good fit.
This is a real engineering program
Our team will do our best to prepare, but it’s intentional that we also have the students participate in the prototyping.
There will be classes where we have to learn theory
There will be classes where we spend an hour debugging
There will be classes where we have to focus on the small details
The results will be evident
This is the equivalent to a sports skills class.
This will translate to resume skills
This will translate to a school robotics program
This will translate to advanced math and science classes
This will be fun!
As with any skill, there’s a creativity and personality that comes out when the fundamental tools are intuitive.
We embrace personality. some of the best leaders have the ability to connect with other people.
Like jazz, we will work to a point where students can improvise at their own will, creating a skillset enviable of their peers