Developing Future AI Engineers: Inside Fudan High School's DJI RoboMaster EP Classroom
Not every educational robot prepares students for a future in AI.
Inside Fudan High School's RoboMaster EP classroom, technology learning connects with the wider world.One lesson reveals a school's vision for the future of education
On July 20, 2026, Fudan High School hosted the DJI RoboMaster EP Robotics Workshop, a full-day immersive technology program for incoming Grade 10 students and Grade 11 student IT leaders. The course covered app pairing, simulated competitions, omnidirectional movement, AI visual marker recognition, autonomous line following, block-based programming, intelligent control logic and creative applications. Using an internationally recognized educational platform, the school aimed to develop students' interdisciplinary integration, logical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Inside Fudan High School's computer classroom, rows of black DJI RoboMaster EP robots were neatly arranged at the front.
Students did not rush to pick up tablets and drive the robots, and the instructor did not immediately open the block-based programming interface.
Instead, the instructor began with a question:
“If you were designing a robot to deliver medicine in a hospital, transport goods in a factory or even help with search and rescue after a disaster, what abilities would it need?”
The room fell quiet.
One student replied, “It needs to move.”
Another said, “It needs to avoid obstacles.”
Someone else suggested, “It should be able to understand where to go by itself.”
The instructor smiled and nodded.
“Exactly. Today, we are going to help RoboMaster EP develop these abilities, step by step.”
At that moment, students began to understand that this was more than a lesson in playing with robots. It was a lesson in how intelligent systems make decisions.
Why did Fudan High School invest in RoboMaster EP?
When parents see RoboMaster EP, they often ask the same question:
“There are so many inexpensive educational robots available. Why would the school choose the more expensive RoboMaster EP?”
It was also one of the questions most frequently raised during the school's course planning.
The answer lies in the educational goals.
If the aim is simply to give students an introduction to technology, many entry-level educational robots can perform tasks such as moving forward and backward, avoiding obstacles or following a simple line.
Fudan High School, however, wanted to develop more than students who can operate a robot. It wanted to prepare learners to design intelligent systems, integrate AI technologies and solve real problems.
The value of RoboMaster EP lies in bringing together much of the architecture of an intelligent robot in one educational platform.
It combines an omnidirectional chassis, mecanum wheels, gimbal control, a high-definition camera, AI visual recognition, multiple sensors, block-based and Python programming, and a simulation environment.
These technologies also connect with the core concepts used in smart logistics, autonomous driving, drones, smart factories and AI robotics.
Students were therefore learning a way of thinking that connects classroom work with future industries.
Start with app pairing: Learn to understand a system, as well as operate a device
The practical course began with students using tablets to pair and connect to RoboMaster EP.
What looked like a simple Wi-Fi connection and control exercise carried a deeper lesson.
Before an intelligent device can perform a task, it needs initialization, communication, a working control interface and a check of its status. This closely reflects the startup principles used for equipment in smart factories.
Students learned to check whether the equipment was functioning, establish the control interface and send their first command from a tablet.
They then explored chassis and gimbal controls, discovering how mecanum wheels allow the robot to move sideways and diagonally as well as forward, backward and around its own axis.
Understanding how the robot moves gives meaning to the programming that follows.
In the simulator, students experience an engineer's way of working
The block-based programming simulation platform was a particular highlight for students.
Before testing programs on the physical robots, the instructor asked everyone to work in the simulated environment.
A tablet, a block-based programming interface and a virtual robot.
Students dragged programming blocks into place, designed sequences, added conditions, set speeds and pressed Run.
If a program did not work, they could troubleshoot without worrying about a collision or repeatedly resetting the equipment.
They could change the program immediately and simulate it again.
This workflow resembles the development methods used when companies build intelligent devices.
Engineers often begin by testing in a virtual environment.
They validate a design in simulation before deploying it in the real world.
Fudan High School wanted students to develop this engineering mindset while still in high school.
The classroom floor becomes the day's most important laboratory
When the afternoon session began, the tables and chairs were rearranged.
Students took blue tape, laid out routes for their robots and crouched on the floor to discuss their designs.
“Should we add another turn here?”
“Would an S-shaped route make it harder?”
“Let's try a ninety-degree turn!”
The empty floor quickly became a robotics test area. Every strip of blue tape represented a challenge designed by the students themselves.When RoboMaster EP started moving, its camera detected the blue guide lines. Students could see computer vision in action.
The robot did not simply replay a fixed route. It used image analysis, steering adjustments and control logic to decide how to proceed.
Some attempts succeeded; others failed.
But no group stopped because of a failed attempt.
Each departure from the line became the starting point for another discussion.
The most valuable moments came after a failed attempt. A lesson focused only on completing a basic line-following task could have ended in twenty minutes.
The instructor chose a different approach.
Plenty of time was deliberately reserved for discussion..
When a student came over to ask,
“Why does my robot keep driving off the route?”
the instructor did not take over the tablet.
Instead, the instructor crouched beside the student and asked,
“If you were the robot, what would you be seeing right now?”
That question encouraged students toGo back and inspect their programs.
Some discovered that the speed was too high.
Others found that the waiting time was too short.
Some had placed the visual recognition condition in the wrong part of the sequence.
Others redesigned the entire workflow.
At this point, block-based programming became more than a collection of blocks.
It became a way for students toThink through a problem.
The instructor was teaching more than programming:How to reason about a program.
One sample program, twenty different creative directions
Every group received the same sample program.
Yet by the end of the course, almost every group's result was different.
Some added new conditions.
Some made the robot play different sound effects when it recognized different markers.
Others introduced new ways of moving.
Some redesigned the entire sequence.
The instructor encouraged students:
「Do more than complete the assignment. Ask what else you can make the robot do.」
This was precisely the ability Fudan High School wanted to develop:.
Use an answer as the starting point for creating new possibilities.
Learning robotics today, preparing for the world tomorrow
Years from now, students may no longer remember the specific block-based programs they wrote that day.
But they may remember that when a program failed, they learned to analyze, discuss, test and try again, instead of waiting for the teacher to provide an answer.
Those abilities can support future study and work in computer science, AI, electrical and electronic engineering, smart manufacturing, drones, medical technology and other fields that require interdisciplinary thinking.
The value of education extends beyond completing a lesson. Through repeated thinking and making, students graduallyBuild the confidence and ability to solve unfamiliar problems.
This is why Fudan High School introduced DJI RoboMaster EP: it supports a deeper educational vision in which students learn to understand technology, create with it and use it to solve real-world problems.
#DevelopingFutureAIEngineers | Inside Fudan High School's DJI RoboMaster EP Classroom
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