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DIY Robot Arm for STEM clubs

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Last edit: 05 June 2026

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Resource Type Teaching Resources, Example Programs and Live Lessons
Curriculum Topic Enrichment/STEM/Cross Curriculum, Physical Computing, Programming

Project Link

https://github.com/thecsteachinglab/nano-arm/

Goal

  • A project for school stem clubs that allows students to build and program their own robot arm.

Features

  • Small, cheap (<£10 unit cost), easy to store, programmable with Python or manual control with joystick
  • Easy to fabricate with laser cutter

Motivation

The commercial educational robot arms, I found, are either expensive when you need enough for a whole class or difficult to sore at quantity (space has been a big issue for me).  I wanted something that was small, quick to fabricate, cheap and could be programmed with Python. I chose to laser cut the parts from plywood as it's much faster than 3D printing and laser cutters seem to be a standard part of DT departments these days. I used as many common components as possible so parts can be easily be replaced. I have used this with great success in STEM clubs and have provided all necessary resources in the project link. If you do end up making one, it would be great to see it!  Feel free to get in touch with question or comments.