FAQ

No, ORA will have sessions ranging from beginners to advanced. Anyone with an interest in learning more about robotics engineering is welcome.

Please see the course descriptions on the 'Courses' page for course fees.

Registration includes access to robotics equipment, computers, facility costs and liability insurance.

There are discounts for families registering siblings.  

Depending on the course, tournament preparation, etc., class sessions generally range between 75-90 minutes. 

If, after the first class, your son/daughter decide it is not for them, there is NO fee. After that, tuition, less a $150 non-refundable deposit, is refundable until the end of the third week. 

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Based on years of teaching robotics, we are pretty confident your son/daughter will want to continue 🙂.

You will have full access to robot equipment and materials, including computers. Some of our newer courses, such as Arduino Lite, will include materials for students to keep. All Academy students get a  team shirt and some cool Okanagan Robotics Academy bling. 

Welcome to ORA! Joining us automatically makes you part of the team. As for competition, there are options for individual and team competitions. For example, SumoBot can be both individual or teams of up to three, Robotic Soccer is normally teams of 2-3, Search & Rescue 1-2, etc. 

We will also have non-competitive projects such as Lightsaber construction and programming, skill based challenges like finding ideal gear ratios for maximum speed or power.

For those students who have always wanted to be on a team, ORA is a place where you will discover your strengths, so you won't only be a part of the team...you will be an essential part of the team.   

Introductory and advanced courses include Lego Robotics using NXT and EV3 platforms, BBC Microbit, and Arduino.  As students advance in their understanding, they will migrate more heavily to Arduino and the C++ programming language. 

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At ORA, we focus on community, team building, teamwork and collaboration. There will be times when you will work individually, and there will be times when you will share and collaborate with other students. 

Many of our courses fulfill the Ministry of Education's Core Competencies and Content for ADST (Applied Digital Skills and Technology). High Schools can create partial or full course credits (Course Credit toward graduation is relevant for Grade 10-12) for ORA courses taken. In Grade 3-9 ADST is a required course. Contact us for more information. 

Canada is predicted to have a shortage of over 100,000 engineers by 2025. 

Robotic Engineering is simply Electronic and Mechanical Engineering brought to life with Computer Science.

This is why robotics is such a fun and engaging field, allowing students to explore creative design with practical hands-on applications. 

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​​Through ORA's unique approach to teaching robotics, students learn mathematics, science, skill building in problem solving, critical thinking, communication, and creative arts.

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Additionally, Robotic Technology is helping to improve lives. See News and Media tab. Students are learning the skills to help innovate news ways to help others, reduce pollution, and build a better world.   

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The best part is students are usually too engaged and having too much fun to realize how much they are learning. 

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At ORA, everyone is encouraged to reach their potential with plenty of support from the instructors. 

There is limited enrolment although to date we have managed to include everyone who has enrolled. 

We will be maintaining class sizes at a maximum of  10 students. Students outside of the enrolment cap will be placed on a waitlist, or can pre-register for the next session.