The virtual maker space · Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Learn how things work.
Then build them.

See the idea in a drawing first. Then wire it up, write the code and make it move. Everything runs in your browser, with nothing to install and no account.

Start from the very beginning Open Tinker Studio

New to all of this? Good. That is who it is for.

1WatchA short hand-drawn animation explains one idea, step by step.
2TryA real circuit appears in 3D. Tap the parts, press Run, change the code.
3CheckA few quiz questions finish the lesson and earn badges and certificates.

Learners, 10 and up

Start at lesson one. You do not need to know anything about electronics or code, and lessons go in order.

Start lesson one

Parents

No account, nothing to install and nothing to buy. Progress is saved on your own device, not on our servers.

How we handle data

Teachers

You do not need to be an engineer. Every lesson explains itself, so you can learn alongside your class.

Teacher quick start

All you need: a computer or tablet with a web browser. A real Arduino board is optional, for later.

01 · See the idea

First, see the idea.
Drawn by hand, one step at a time.

Before you touch a wire, a short animated drawing shows what is happening inside. Step through it at your own pace, and play it again whenever you like.

Electricity is a push and a path.

A battery pushes, the wire gives the charge a path, and a lamp turns the flow into light. Break the loop anywhere and it all stops.

Electronics Basics, 15 lessons

A sensor is how a machine notices.

An ultrasonic sensor sends a click too high to hear and listens for the echo. Half the time it takes, times the speed of sound, is the distance to the wall.

How Sensors See, 10 lessons

Pascal’s law: push here, lift there.

Press the thin syringe and the water pushes on the wide one with the same pressure. Over a bigger area, that pressure makes a bigger force. A car jack works the same way.

Physics of Machines, in the curriculum

Archimedes: why a steel ship floats.

Water pushes up on anything in it with the weight of the water it moves aside. Shape a lump of clay into a boat and it moves enough water to float.

Physics of Machines, in the curriculum

02 · Build it

Then build it in Tinker Studio.
The physics is real.

Drag a board and a breadboard onto the bench.

Tinker Studio is an open bench. Pick parts from the parts bin and drop them where you want them. Breadboard parts snap into the holes.
Push in an LED and wire it straight to pin 13.

With nothing to limit it, far too much current flows. The LED burns out, as a real one would, and the Studio tells you how much current went through it and why.
Add a 220 Ω resistor and try again.

The resistor holds the current to about 14 milliamps. Now the LED glows and keeps glowing. Hover over any hole to see its voltage.
Run the code.

Every wire is a real connection. The circuit solver works out each voltage and current while your sketch runs, so what you see is what the parts would do.
Build something in the Studio

03 · Code it

Write real code.
Then watch it run, a line at a time.

The Studio and the lessons run Arduino C++, the language you would send to a real board. Set a breakpoint, step through, and see each variable change as the LED does what that line says.

blink.inoPaused on line 9

const int LED = 13;
void setup() {
pinMode(LED, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
digitalWrite(LED, HIGH); // on
delay(500);
digitalWrite(LED, LOW); // off
delay(500);
}

Variables

LED: 13
pin 13: HIGH
millis(): 1000

The LED on pin 13 is on.

Mistakes are free here.

Too much current? The part burns out, and you find out why.
Breakpoints, stepping and live variables.
Undo anything. Change one thing. Run it again.
Send a project to a friend with a link.
Download the sketch as an .ino file for a real board.

04 · Make it move

Make it move.
Robots and machines from simple parts.

Once the ideas make sense, you put them together. Syringes and water become an arm that lifts. Two light sensors and two motors become a robot that follows a line.

Syringe hydraulic arm

Pairs of syringes joined by water. Push one and the other moves the arm. That is Pascal’s law, doing the lifting.

Robotic hand

Strings for tendons and servos for muscles. Pull a string and its finger curls.

Line follower

Two light sensors watch a dark line and steer two motors to stay on it.

Automatic sprinkler

A soil sensor notices the pot is dry and runs the pump for a few seconds.

Drone

Four motors and a motion sensor, balancing many times a second to stay level.

Start Robots & DIY Machines See the curriculum

Maker challenges

Invent for your city.
Real problems, real parts, your idea.

Lessons teach one idea at a time. Challenges put them together into something new, often inspired by the UAE: driverless metro doors, a cool bus stop, a vertical farm, clean water and safer roads. Finish one and earn an Inventor badge.

Water and farms

A vertical farm tower that waters itself, a filter that checks its own water, a desert farm that saves every drop.

Smart UAE projects

Streets that think

Street lights that brighten as you pass, a camel crossing sign, a mall that guides you to a free space.

Smart city projects

Big engineering

A factory gripper that can hold an egg, a drone’s brain, a robot that helps, a camera that sorts recycling.

Engineering projects

See all maker challenges

Start anywhere.
Go as far as you like.

163 lessons in 17 tracks, from what a volt is to running a neural network on a Jetson.

Start here

36 lessons

Microcontrollers

49 lessons

Connected devices

20 lessons

Single-board computers

22 lessons

Robots & DIY

8 lessons

Robots & DIY Machines8

Capstone projects

28 lessons

See every lesson

One set of skills.
Many boards.

Arduino Uno R3C++ Arduino Mega 2560C++ Arduino NanoC++ ESP32 DevKit V1C++ Raspberry Pi PicoMicroPython NVIDIA Jetson Nano Developer KitPython NodeMCU v3 (ESP8266)C++ Raspberry Pi 5Python NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Developer KitPython

Compare the boards

06 · For schools

For schools, fab labs and maker spaces.
Starting in Dubai and across the UAE.

Tinker Lab is an initiative of the Tinker Lab Foundation, with one aim:

Hands-on electronics, coding and robotics for every school, fab lab and maker space in Dubai and across the UAE.

Teachers get the whole course for free, a printable build guide for every project and lessons that work on screen before the kits arrive.

163lessons in 17 tracks, with quizzes and challenges
36hand-drawn explainers that need no board at all
0accounts or installs. Progress stays in each browser
9boards to learn on, from Arduino-style to Raspberry Pi and Jetson

Kit or screen?
Honestly, use both.

What you can do	Tinker Lab	A box of parts
See inside every part while it works	Yes	No
Nothing to buy to get started	Yes	No
Burn out a part without losing it	Yes	No
Pause the code on any line	Yes	No
Exact parts list and wiring for each project	Yes	Yes
Hold real parts and solder them	No	Yes
Meet real-world noise, loose wires and flat batteries	No	Yes

Every lesson lists the exact parts and wiring, so you can build it on your desk when you have the kit.

For educators Our mission

Your first circuit takes about five minutes.

No account, nothing to install. Your progress stays in your browser.

Start learning For teachers

Learn how things work.Then build them.

New to all of this? Good. That is who it is for.

Learners, 10 and up

Parents

Teachers

First, see the idea.Drawn by hand, one step at a time.

Electricity is a push and a path.

A sensor is how a machine notices.

Pascal’s law: push here, lift there.

Archimedes: why a steel ship floats.

Then build it in Tinker Studio.The physics is real.

Drag a board and a breadboard onto the bench.

Push in an LED and wire it straight to pin 13.

Add a 220 Ω resistor and try again.

Run the code.

Write real code.Then watch it run, a line at a time.