When people think about software certification, safety, and reliability, they often imagine experienced engineers working on complex systems. But where does that mindset actually begin?

Over the past months, we had the pleasure of finding one answer together with a group of highly motivated students at the Europaschule Rövershagen near Rostock, north of Germany. As part of an extracurricular robotics club (AG), we embarked on a journey into the fascinating world of programming and robotics — with a clear goal in mind: Preparing for the NORDMETALL Robotics Competition.

Discovering Robotics through Hands-On Learning

The robotics club is part of the school's Makerspace, a creative learning environment where students can experiment with technology, engineering, and digital tools beyond the regular curriculum. The Makerspace encourages curiosity, teamwork, and practical problem-solving — making it the perfect home for a robotics project like this one.

Our technical companion throughout this project was the mBot2, an educational robot that is perfectly suited for introducing young people to programming and engineering concepts. Equipped with four line-following sensors underneath, an ultrasonic distance sensor at the front, two motors, and a compass, the robot offers everything needed to solve surprisingly sophisticated tasks.

What started with simple programming exercises quickly evolved into real engineering challenges. The students learned how sensors work, how a robot perceives its environment, and how software can translate sensor data into reliable decisions. Using visual programming tools, they created their first programs and gradually improved them through testing, debugging, and teamwork.

For many participants, it was their first opportunity to see how software interacts directly with hardware. Every change in the code immediately influenced the robot's behavior, making abstract concepts tangible and fun to explore.

Preparing for the Competition

The highlight of the project was preparing for the NORDMETALL Robotics Competition. The challenge required the robot to navigate a specially designed course autonomously while solving a variety of tasks along the way (watch the video of our team, time index 26:30).

Suddenly, concepts such as precision, robustness, and repeatability became much more than theoretical terms. The students experienced firsthand that a program which works once is not necessarily a program that works every time.

Countless test runs, adjustments, and discussions helped the team improve their solution step by step. Along the way, they learned an important engineering lesson: successful systems are built through continuous testing, analysis, and improvement.

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Learning why Reliability matters

This is exactly where our experience from the world of safety-critical systems could contribute. At SYSGO, we work every day on technologies where reliability matters. Bringing some of these principles into a school project was particularly rewarding.

The students learned to think about questions such as:

• How can we make sure the robot behaves predictably?
• What happens if a sensor reading is slightly different?
• How can we test whether a solution is truly reliable?

These are valuable lessons that extend far beyond robotics competitions. Understanding the importance of verification, testing, and dependable behavior at an early stage provides a strong foundation for future technical careers.

What impressed our teacher most was the enthusiasm and creativity of the students. Every challenge became an opportunity to experiment, improve, and learn something new. Watching them transform from curious beginners into confident young developers was incredibly rewarding.

Looking into the Future

Whether those students eventually become software developers, engineers, or pursue entirely different careers, they have already gained an important insight: Technology is not just about making things work. It is about understanding systems, solving problems systematically, and building solutions that others can trust.

For SYSGO, supporting initiatives like this is an investment in the future. Today's robotics club members are tomorrow's engineers, innovators, and technology leaders.

And who knows? Perhaps some of the students from this Rostock robotics club will one day develop the next generation of safety-critical systems themselves.

We are proud to have been part of their journey.

A special Thank You

A project like this is only possible through the dedication and support of many people behind the scenes.

A big thank you to Bildungswerk MV (www.bildungswerk-wirtschaft.de) and all the volunteers who make this wonderful opportunity possible as part of our all-day school program. Their commitment helps inspire young people to explore technology, develop new skills, and gain valuable hands-on experience that will stay with them far beyond the classroom!