A Robot Academy Program
Teaching Kids to Code Since 2006
A Robot Academy Program • Teaching Kids to Code Since 2006•Ages 9-13The kid-safe platform where kids create games with AI and actually learn the code
Founding Families get early access to our browser-based game-building platform, with real JavaScript, visible code, kid-safe guardrails, and parent visibility built in.
Games Kids Can Create
Real browser games built in the same visible-code workflow we are opening to Founding Families.
Galactic Triangle Invasion
Built by Henry & Smith, age 9
Blast through waves of triangle invaders and defeat five epic bosses to save the galaxy!
Play Now →Galactic Triangle Invasion
Built by Henry & Smith, age 9
Blast through waves of triangle invaders and defeat five epic bosses to save the galaxy!
Ice Grappler
Built by Charles, age 13
Master slippery ice platforms and use your special grapple power to reach the top in this endless climbing adventure!
Play Now →Ice Grappler
Built by Charles, age 13
Master slippery ice platforms and use your special grapple power to reach the top in this endless climbing adventure!
This is the kind of playable output kids can create when AI, guardrails, and visible code work together.
How It Works
Kids describe a game idea, AI generates real JavaScript, and the code stays visible beside a live preview. Founding Families get guided onboarding while the platform opens.
Your child starts by describing a game idea in plain language. The platform turns that idea into a playable browser game using real p5.js and JavaScript—not blocks, not fake code, and not a black box.
The preview and the code stay side-by-side, so kids can see what changed, ask follow-up questions, and experiment directly instead of treating AI like magic.
Founding Families are joining the product at the trust-wrapper stage: safer prompts, visible code, parent oversight, and a guided first-project path while we tighten the launch experience.
Founding Families access is intentionally hands-on. Families start with guided onboarding, platform access, and direct follow-up as we open the first launch group. Live support may be part of that rollout, but the product we are promoting is the platform itself.
Meet Your Lead Instructor
Michael Vawter started coding at age 9, building robots to solve everyday problems—like one that turned off his bedroom lights automatically. By middle school, he'd won back-to-back world championships in robotics, placing 1st among 10,000 teams from 39 countries.
That was just the beginning. Michael went on to publish peer-reviewed research in vision science and co-founded Robot Academy in 2006. Over 19 years, Robot Academy has taught coding to thousands of students through school partnerships across Ohio—not just coding theory, but real skills that work.
Today, Michael builds AI-powered financial applications for global clients. He uses these exact AI tools professionally, every day. When he saw the gap between how coding is taught and how developers actually work in 2025, he created this program to bridge it.
Michael personally teaches every cohort, along with a team of expert coding instructors trained by Robot Academy. Your child gets direct, one-on-one guidance from someone who's been the curious kid, became a world champion, and codes at the cutting edge today.
Michael Vawter started coding at age 9, building robots to solve everyday problems—like one that turned off his bedroom lights automatically. By middle school, he'd won back-to-back world championships in robotics, placing 1st among 10,000 teams from 39 countries.
That was just the beginning. Michael went on to publish peer-reviewed research in vision science and co-founded Robot Academy in 2006. Over 19 years, Robot Academy has taught coding to thousands of students through school partnerships across Ohio—not just coding theory, but real skills that work.
Today, Michael builds AI-powered financial applications for global clients. He uses these exact AI tools professionally, every day. When he saw the gap between how coding is taught and how developers actually work in 2025, he created this program to bridge it.
Michael personally teaches every cohort, along with a team of expert coding instructors trained by Robot Academy. Your child gets direct, one-on-one guidance from someone who's been the curious kid, became a world champion, and codes at the cutting edge today. Real industry practices, not outdated theory. Not from someone who learned to code decades ago, but from someone doing it right now.
But is AI safe for my child?
Real developers in 2025 are using AI as a coding & research partner. It's not cheating - it's the new literacy. By learning healthy habits with AI, your child can outperform developers twice their age.
But we understand the question: "How do you keep this safe?"
Let us show you exactly how we've built the ONLY kid-safe way to learn AI-assisted development.
Real developers in 2025 are using AI as a coding & research partner. It's not cheating - it's the new literacy. By learning healthy habits with AI, your child can outperform developers twice their age.
But we understand the question: "How do you keep this safe?"
Let us show you exactly how we've built the ONLY kid-safe way to learn AI-assisted development.
Your Parent Dashboard: Complete Visibility
Log in whenever you want and view a complete history of your child's AI interactions. Every prompt. Every response. Every project. Click delete to erase their history from our system anytime. We don't use this data except to provide support during class, and we delete everything after the cohort ends unless you choose otherwise.
Smart Filters That Guide, Not Block
Our proprietary system redirects students toward age-appropriate game development topics automatically. Game idea with excessive violence? It guides them toward exciting action-adventure instead. Off-topic question? The system brings them gently back to their project. All interactions are monitored to keep everything appropriate and on-task.
The Critical Difference
While competitors either ignore safety, ban AI entirely, or offer unrestricted AI chat, we've built something different. We're not giving kids an AI friend. We're teaching them to use AI as a creative tool, safely. We're teaching them to know when to use AI and when not to - how to become empowered creators who can use the latest technology in a sophisticated and healthy way.
Safety Isn't an Afterthought
It's the foundation everything else is built on. With complete parent oversight, instructor supervision, and robust protections that meet and exceed industry standards for children, your child will learn how to do what today's most cutting-edge developers are doing—while you maintain complete visibility and control.
The Calculator Moment
In the 1980s, forward-thinking families embraced calculators while others outlawed them in the classroom. Those parents weren't wrong to be concerned; they were trying to protect their kids from becoming overly reliant on tech. But the calculator-using students were empowered to spend their time mastering calculus and statistics instead of long division, and this gave them a leg up against their peers. Today it's obvious that engineers, data scientists, and innovators don't avoid calculators—they use them as tools to solve bigger problems.
Today, we're at the same crossroads with AI. The innovators of tomorrow are learning healthy habits with AI today.
Founding Families Access
We are opening a small early-access group before the broader public launch.
This page is no longer selling a fixed January cohort seat. It is for families who want the early version of the platform, tighter onboarding, and direct launch-stage feedback loops.
What Founding Families Get
Early access to the kid-safe platform
Your child gets into the browser-based game-building workflow before the wider public release.
Visible code + live preview from day one
Kids can prompt, inspect the JavaScript, and iterate on the actual game instead of using a hidden-output toy.
Guided onboarding for the first project
We keep the first-run experience tighter during launch so families are not dropped into the product cold.
Parent-trust layer built into the rollout
This launch group is specifically for families who care about safety, oversight, and healthy AI habits.
Direct feedback into the launch process
Founding Families help shape the onboarding, messaging, and support model before the larger push.
No payment is taken on this page. We review requests by hand and follow up with current timing, fit, and the Founding Families offer.
Questions? See FAQ or email michael@robot-academy.com or call (614) 769-7626
Help Us Launch This The Right Way
We are not trying to ship a generic "prompt to game" toy for kids. We are opening a parent-trusted version of AI game building where the code stays visible and learning stays intact.
Founding Families get the earliest access, the tightest onboarding, and the most direct line back to the team while we finish the public launch wrapper.
If that sounds like the right fit for your family, request access and we will follow up personally.
Questions? See our FAQ or email us at michael@robot-academy.com or call (614) 769-7626