There is an Atal Tinkering Laboratory (ATL), part of the Atal Innovation Mission (Government of India’s flagship initiative, at seven Isha Vidhya schools. The goal of these labs is to stimulate and instill a design mindset and computational thinking, adaptive learning, and physical computing skills in students.

Read how our ATLs stimulate our students through hands-on activities and minimal teacher instructions, equip them with materials that facilitate STEM learning, and prepare them for futuristic academic pursuits.

“Learning to connect the components, write the code, and observe how a Smart Gate works using motion sensors made it easier to understand the concept of automation. I learned how to control motors using a microcontroller, improved my coding skills, and efficiently handled small electronic parts. ATL activities have encouraged me to take part in our school science exhibition and other programs.”

“Using Tinkercad, I designed my 3D keychain from scratch in a lesson that was all about turning ideas into something real. I explored designing with shapes and text and was excited to see my keychain come to life on the screen. This activity improved my creativity, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills, and gave me the confidence to explore more challenging designs at the ATL.”

“From understanding what each part - the Mechanum wheel, Arduino, Bluetooth module, and motor – does, to connecting and controlling them with a tablet, was thrilling. I learned how to connect circuits and program commands so that the Mechanum wheels moved in any direction without changing orientation. Witnessing coding and hardware work in tandem via wireless commands was exciting. Such activities at the ATL stimulated me to compete and win an Inspire Manak award.”

“Before this session, I hadn’t heard or known of a virtual reality (VR) headset. In this group activity, we creatively wrote a story with dialogue and used coding to animate our characters. The VR video editing seemed challenging at first, but the tools and features in CoSpace made the task simpler. VR videos offer a 360° immersive experience, and I excitedly looked around in all directions at our video with an Oculus headset and watched a true-to-life environment. Connecting imagination with technology made the lesson truly engaging.”

“This challenging but engaging lesson helped me learn how to use sensors to detect a hand and make the car follow it. I practised writing simple programs to control the car’s motors, and when the car didn’t respond, I experimented to fix the problem. I also learned how to connect all the parts and make them work together. This project made me more confident in using technology and helped me better understand how robots work.”

“Although I found the lesson easy, I made a mistake and burst a bulb. We used an Arduino board, a resistor, wires, a breadboard, and red, yellow, and green LEDs to set up the circuit. I correctly connected the positive and negative cables to the correct ports, but overlooked the small resistor, which caused the lapse. It taught me to pay attention to every small detail. I learned to write code, use loops and delays, and upload programs to control the LEDs.”

“As part of a group activity in our School Student Parliament initiative, we focused on using technology to solve practical communication needs. We methodically learned chatbot logic, designed responses, and finally carried out tests that helped us grasp concepts quickly and effectively. It enhanced our understanding of Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing and boosted our confidence in independently exploring and experimenting with advanced tech tools. We are now planning to design an AI-based chatbot for school communication and event updates.”