Robotic Drives & Physics: Robotics, learn by building III

Please note: Still adding content. Thanks for your patience. Last update: September 2025Building on the knowledge you gained in the Analog Electronics and Digital Electronics modules, you'll open even more doors to diverse careers and hobbies by learning how to physically move robots and mechatronics.

Robotic drives and physics are intimately intertwined - almost the same topic in fact. And think about all the things around you that are moved or operated automatically: from the furnace and air handlers in your office building, to so many functions in your car, and then the booming robotics field in industry, mass production, even entertainment. People are needed who understand how those robots work in order to design, install, program and maintain those robots.

Maybe you're interested in building a submarine robot to dive to shipwrecks or places normally unreachable by humans. We'll actually look at a real-world case study and use our new-found knowledge of physics to design a submarine robot to operate at depths of 600 meters or more. Or perhaps you are just interested in competition robotics like the gladiator-style battle robots which go head-to-head to destroy each other.

3D printers (of which we design and build one in course 4) are essentially robots. All of these topics involve a good understanding of robotic drive systems and physics which you will learn in this course. With over 45,000 students enrolled in the first two courses in the "Robotics: Learn by building" series, more than 3,200 five star ratings in the first course alone, students aged 8 to 60+ have enjoyed the course series and its projects.