Hands-on technology labs for government and small private schools, built with Cyberange.
Many government and small private schools teach technology from the textbook. Students read about sensors, circuits and networks without ever wiring one, and the schools have neither the budget nor the equipment to change that.
This programme brings them a working lab built around the city they live in. Students see how traffic signals, street lights, water and power are controlled, program them themselves, and in the senior grades learn why those systems have to be protected.
Cyberange designs and builds the lab kits. The Convergent Defense Foundation raises the funds, selects the schools and reports on impact. Installation and teacher training are delivered by both together.
The programme is launching now. The first labs will be set up as sponsorship comes in.
Each CurioLabs unit is a working miniature of one part of a city, such as a traffic junction, a process plant or a power station, connected to a control console. Students do not just read about these systems. They program them, flash their code to the model and watch it respond, starting with Blockly, a drag-and-drop visual programming tool, and moving on to Python and AI.
One team works on a model at a time. The teacher first takes the whole class through each lesson.
We suggest at least three different models, adding more each year.
One or two a month, with teams rotating between models. Schools can run more.
Each model is about 2 × 1 ft and its console 1.2 × 1 ft. A corner of a room is enough to start.
Shown here with the traffic model. Every sector follows the same path, so students build on what they learned the year before.
In Blockly, a visual programming tool, students drag and drop the red, amber and green lights and set their timings. They flash the program to the model, press play and watch the junction respond. Then they challenge themselves: add more vehicles, more pedestrians, and see whether their timing still works or can be improved.
The same junction, now programmed and flashed in Python. Sensors count waiting vehicles and detect a pedestrian asking to cross, and students write the logic that lets the signal respond on its own.
Students learn the basics of machine learning and use Python with a library such as TensorFlow to build a model that adjusts the signal timings automatically, in real time, as traffic changes.
Once students have built a working system, they learn how it could be misused, for example by faking a sensor reading, and how to protect it.
The curriculum maps to CBSE, ICSE, Cambridge and IB computer science, fits within Atal Tinkering Labs and supports the STEM outcomes of NEP 2020. Students leave with a portfolio of documented projects they can show colleges.
The two Blockly screens a Grade 8 student works in.
Three of the CurioLabs models. Images are product renders.
Signals, crossings, vehicles and pedestrians at a busy intersection. This is the model used in the learning path above.
Tanks, pumps, valves and pipework that move and process material safely.
Generation, a substation and the homes and buildings that draw power.
More models are on the way. Further CurioLabs units simulate other parts of a smart city, such as street lighting and waste collection, and follow the same path from Blockly to AI.
Beyond the skills themselves, students leave with something to show for each year.
Students write up what they built, what they learned and how they improved it, a record of their own work they can show.
One certificate per grade, issued jointly by Cyberange and CDF, for completing that year of the path, from Blockly through Python to AI.
When students build a system, watch it run and work out why it did not do what they expected, they learn to think, not just to remember.
Turn a real problem, like a busy junction, into clear steps a machine can follow.
Run the program on the model and check the result against what they expected.
Find what went wrong, change one thing, and try again until it works better.
You can sponsor a whole lab or part of one. Costs depend on the school and the kits it needs; we share a breakdown on request. To give a smaller amount towards the labs, donate online.
An individual, company or foundation funds a whole lab or part of one.
The foundation chooses a government or small private school that will make good use of it.
Cyberange and the foundation set up and test the lab on site, ready for its first class.
A three-day train-the-teacher onboarding, with lesson plans and manuals.
The foundation reports to the sponsor on how the lab is being used and what students build.
CurioLabs models and control consoles for the school, sized to its grades and space.
The lab set up and tested on site, ready for its first class.
A three-day train-the-teacher onboarding, with lesson plans and teacher manuals with rubrics.
A maintenance kit with replacement modules, and a helpline for teachers.