Robots in school: what really works in the classroom

Why robotics in school

The Ozobot Evo and similar screenless robots read colors drawn on paper: the color is the instruction, and the robot carries it out. That way an abstract loop and the "if... then..." condition become something a student can see and correct.

Below we check which models suit this kind of learning, what they cost, and where the matter turns out harder than manufacturers' brochures suggest.

The starting point in Poland: why schools think about this at all

Poland has low unemployment (3.4% in July 2026 according to Eurostat, Polskie Radio), and employers in many industries have complained for years about a shortage of workers; we write about it in “Humanoid Robots and the Polish Labor Market”. That pressure creates demand for graduates who understand automation, programming and mechatronics. A school does not have to deliver ready-made specialists. It is enough that it does not put children off these careers at an age when they are still interested in them.

To be honest: we have no reliable, official statistics on how many Polish schools use robots. We found no data from the Ministry of Education on the subject, and we do not intend to guess. What we do know is what is on sale and at what price.

What robots in school can really do today

The segment divides into three levels, and it is worth not mixing them.

Preschool and grades 1-3. Screenless robots that follow lines and react to colored codes. The Ozobot Evo costs, according to the manufacturer, from USD 175 for a starter kit, and a classroom pack of six robots USD 999 (Ozobot). Prices are public, which is rare in this segment. The manufacturer claims use in more than 10,000 schools (Ozobot); that is the manufacturer's figure, not independently confirmed.

Grades 4-8. Here the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime Set building-block kit reigned: motors, sensors, a controller and bricks from which children build their own constructions. Kit 45678, however, was retired on June 30, 2026. The manufacturer announced app support until June 30, 2031 and a new "Computer Science & AI" range (LEGO Education). If you are planning a tender, factor that in: buying a retired kit is a risk.

High school, technical school, clubs. Here miniature robotic arms come in. The Dobot Magician (4 axes, 0.5 kg payload; Dobot) draws, laser-engraves and moves light objects. The myCobot 280 is a six-axis arm for USD 649 (about PLN 2,520 (≈ EUR 575 at NBP rate 4.3716 of 20 October 2026) at the NBP rate of 1 October 2026), with a 250 g payload (Elephant Robotics). For technically oriented classes the Dobot MG400 is stronger: a four-axis desktop arm with a 440 mm reach and up to 750 g payload, priced at EUR 2,159–2,854 net (Dobot.nu). With such arms a student understands “Degrees of Freedom (DOF) in Humanoid Robots” (degrees of freedom) not from a drawing on the board, but from the fact that the arm cannot reach a spot because it lacks an axis.

A separate category is cheap do-it-yourself platforms. The SO-101 from Hugging Face and TheRobotStudio is a pair of arms made of 3D-printed parts and servos. According to the official bill of materials, the follower alone is about USD 122, and the leader-plus-follower pair about USD 230 (GitHub). It is a good solution for a lab with a 3D printer and a teacher with a passion, but someone has to spend hours on assembly and calibration.

Finally, the spectacle. The Unitree Go2 quadruped is available in Polish retail (Air version from USD 1,600 from the manufacturer, Unitree, and in Polish shops from about PLN 9,900 (≈ EUR 2,260), Delta Robots, to PLN 12,000 (≈ EUR 2,740), Botland). It is more a showpiece for technical schools than equipment for learning coding basics. The humanoid NAO is a classic of human-robot interaction research, but its maker, Aldebaran, filed for insolvency in February 2025 (heise), so service support is uncertain.

What robots in school will not do

A robot will not teach programming on its own. Without lesson plans, a trained teacher and time in the timetable, the equipment turns into a gadget to show visitors on open day. We have no study measuring how many kits in Polish schools are really used, so treat this as a purchasing risk, not an established result.

Second, humanoid and quadruped robots are mainly a spectacle. They will not replace cheaper kits in teaching the basics. Third, equipment with a camera and microphone is a challenge in terms of children's data protection. Before you sign the order, read “Data Security: Robots with Cameras and the GDPR”.

Examples from Polish universities as a next step

Reliable sources do not name Polish schools with robots today. We can, however, show where the path leads. According to the universities' own pages, Gdańsk University of Technology has in its mechatronics lab, among other things, a Unitree Go1 quadruped and the Husarion ROSbot 2 Pro platform, a Polish design (Gdańsk University of Technology). Wrocław University of Science and Technology uses a UR3 cobot and FANUC and ABB robots in its robotics lab (lab page). We describe that level on the page “Universities and research”, and the industrial destinations that students will one day reach in factories.

Where to buy

You can buy educational robots in Poland from specialist shops. NeoRobot.pl carries LEGO Education and the Ozobot, Botland sells Unitree, among others, and ASTOR of Kraków, together with Kawasaki, is developing the Astorino educational arm. Delta Robots sells Unitree and NAO robots. For schools, institutional quotes usually apply: ask about a package for a whole class, teacher training and a warranty on the whole set.

Not every model in our catalog has a distributor in Poland. For a school, the availability of service in Poland is sometimes more important than price, because a broken robot with thirty students is a lost lesson. More on selection criteria: “Educational Robots for Schools and Universities” and the category “Educational robots”.

Costs and funding

For one lab a realistic budget is a few to a dozen classroom sets. Ozobots in a pack of six for USD 999 come to under USD 170 each. Ten stations with myCobot 280 arms are about USD 6,500. Add computers, accessories and, most expensive, teacher training.

The robotization tax relief (ulga na robotyzację), described in “Poland's Robotization Tax Relief”, applies to companies and does not concern public schools (podatki.gov.pl). Schools turn to funds from their governing body and to competitive projects. We know of no confirmed program that we could name as certain, so ask the education superintendent's office. In competitions, the teaching plan usually counts, not the equipment alone.

Bottom line

The best robots in school are often the cheapest ones, as long as they come with a good lesson plan and a teacher who trusts them. Start with a screenless or building-block kit, add one arm for the technical lab, and leave humanoids and quadrupeds as a reward for teams that have got through the basics. Choose equipment from an actively supported product line with a Polish service point. Then the robot will not end up as a souvenir of one open day, but will be the reason a few students sign up for mechatronics. We describe the further learning path in “How to Start Learning Robotics in Poland”, and the industrial cobots show what some of them will meet at work.