Worldwide Studios has received an innovation grant from La Fondation Dassault Systèmes to bring hands-on, open-source robotics programs to community colleges this fall.
Over the past year, we have supported more than 1,000 professionals from a wide range of backgrounds. Scientists have built their first self-driving labs; school founders have used coding agents to create project-based learning platforms; and new builders have taken their first hardware projects from idea to working prototype.
This grant lets us extend that work to the next generation of builders.
Why community colleges
Community colleges educate nearly half of America’s undergraduates, including many of the technicians, machinists, and engineers who will keep physical AI running in the real world. Yet robotics education has often been limited by lab budgets in the five- and six-figure range.
That is changing. Open-source hardware such as the SO-101 arm can reduce the cost of a fully programmable robotic setup from tens of thousands of dollars to a few hundred. Paired with modern machine-learning models, these tools let a classroom or makerspace explore work that once required a dedicated research lab.
What the initiative will do
Worldwide will partner with community colleges to run hands-on robotics hackathons. Students will assemble, program, and deploy real robotic arms - no prior experience required.
We are looking for partners to help sponsor and support the program, community colleges and makerspaces to host, and industry partners to mentor teams and set challenges.
Interested in collaborating? Email michael@raspuzzi.com.
Not a community-college student but still want to build? Worldwide’s professional fellowships are open year-round, with the Fall Physical AI Fellowship welcoming people from all backgrounds.