Five Days of Making at FAB26 Boston: What DFRobot Built and Learned

Put a micro:bit on your leg, take a step, and watch a Maqueen robot move. That was one of the liveliest scenes during DFRobot’s five days at FAB26 Boston.

Before the event, we shared the full DFRobot FAB26 schedule and session preview.

Across MIT venues and Fab Hub Kendall, we met Fab Lab leaders, teachers, young makers and technology developers from more than 150 countries. Most conversations quickly became practical: How can AI fit into a real classroom? How much coding should a beginner need? What will still be useful after the event is over?

Our favorite outcome was simple. When the event ended, a set of Maqueen robots stayed at MIT Museum Maker Hub, ready for more young visitors to build, program and race.

First Stop: eduFAB and MIT Media Lab

At eduFAB, visitors tried Maqueen robots, UNIHIKER K10, the HUSKYLENS 2 AI vision sensor and the BOSON Drip Irrigation Kit. The questions were rarely about specifications alone. Teachers wanted to know how long a project would take, whether younger students could follow it, and how it might fit into an existing class.

Rebecca Jiang, Operations Manager of Mushroom Cloud Makerspace, joined the Global Panel on Education and Making. The educators came from different school systems, but many described the same challenge: equipment can start a project, while teacher confidence and continued local support determine whether it lasts.

On Day 1, DFRobot education instructor Shaodong Yang led a workshop at MIT Media Lab for Fab Lab leaders and makerspace managers from the Netherlands, the United States, Japan, Peru, Finland, India, Jordan and Colombia. They compared notes on bringing open-source hardware into classrooms, designing AI activities and building K–12 digital fabrication curricula.

At the same time, visitors at Fab Hub Kendall used the Schematic platform to describe ideas in natural language and turn them into working UNIHIKER K10 prototypes. The BOSON Drip Irrigation Kit led to another set of conversations about water use, sensors and classroom projects built around everyday problems.

Day 2: When a Step Makes a Robot Move

On Day 2, DFRobot educators Shaodong Yang and Jiayin Yang worked with experienced maker Rico Kanthatham to run an international youth maker challenge at MIT Museum. Participants from the United States, Malaysia, France and other countries used micro:bit and Maqueen robots in a physical-computing competition.

A micro:bit attached to each participant’s leg captured movement data. Infrared communication turned that movement into commands for a Maqueen robot. Lift a leg and the robot responds. Change the motion and its behavior changes too. The room quickly filled with running, debugging and laughter.

Later that day, Mushroom Cloud Makerspace co-founder Rockets Xia led a UNIHIKER K10 AI creative coding workshop at the Fab Foundation headquarters in Kendall Fab Hub. Educators and makers from Mexico, the United States, Paraguay, Peru, India and Colombia used Schematic to create projects including smart seedling monitoring and indoor CO₂ alerts.

Many participants began with a plain-language description of what they wanted to make, then adjusted the project after seeing the hardware respond. AI helped them get started faster, but the observing, testing and improving still belonged to the maker.

More project ideas are available in the UNIHIKER K10 collection on the DFRobot Maker Community.

Day 3: Ideas on Stage, Practical Questions at the Museum

As the conference moved into its main program, the team shared work on AI-assisted project-based learning, block-based programming, UNIHIKER K10 classroom projects and maker education in rural communities.

The conversation kept returning to one question: does classroom AI only make answers faster, or can it help students make something they could not make before?

Hands-on projects make the second possibility easier to see. AI can help a learner understand code or produce a first version, but the learner still has to observe, judge, debug and explain. A screen, sensor or robot makes that process visible.

At MIT Museum, Rebecca Jiang and the Mushroom Cloud Makerspace team sat down with Fab Lab leaders and teachers to talk about community-based and rural maker education. The discussion soon moved beyond equipment to the people around it: teachers, local partners and spaces that can keep a program running.

Meanwhile, the booth at Fab Hub Kendall stayed busy. Visitors tried natural-language AI programming, Maqueen racing and other projects, then asked about age groups, class length, teacher preparation and limited school resources.

A working project made an easy starting point. People could take it apart, ask how it worked and discuss what they would change for another classroom or Fab Lab.

Day 4: The Robots Stayed

The youth challenge led to a practical next step with MIT Museum Maker Hub.

On the second day of FAB26, DFRobot worked with experienced maker Rico Kanthatham on the international youth maker challenge at MIT Museum. The hands-on program gave students an approachable way to connect body movement, sensor data, programming and robot control.

DFRobot provided a set of Maqueen robots for future activities at MIT Museum Maker Hub. The exhibition materials were packed away, but the robots stayed. New groups of students will be able to build, modify and experiment with them.

That matters more to us than a busy booth for a few days. An event creates a moment; teachers, tools and a local space can keep that moment going.

What Stayed With Us

After five days of workshops, presentations and conversations, three things felt especially clear.

AI makes more sense when students can see the result

When an AI model changes a screen or a robot’s behavior, learners have something concrete to question. They can test an assumption, watch it fail and try again.

Open-source hardware makes it easier to compare notes

Teachers from different countries may use different curricula, but a project that can be opened, modified and rebuilt gives them something practical to discuss.

You can also browse DFRobot’s wider STEM education resources.

Local people keep a good project alive

Equipment and curriculum matter. So do the educators, community spaces and partners who understand the learners around them. They are what turn one workshop into an ongoing opportunity.

What Comes Next

FAB26 Boston is over, but the work is not.

The workshops gave educators new projects to adapt. Conversations at MIT and Fab Hub Kendall connected people working in very different settings. The Maqueen robots at MIT Museum Maker Hub will give more young learners a chance to make something of their own.

We will keep working with educators, Fab Labs, museums and community partners to make AI and physical computing easier to explore through open tools and hands-on projects.

We look forward to seeing what the next group of learners builds.