Humanoid robots in the classroom: use, teaching practice and procurement

The gap starts earlier than everyone thinks

According to the MINT Spring Report 2026 of the German Economic Institute, around 133,900 STEM positions in Germany cannot be filled, and by 2034 demographics will leave the labour market with roughly 138,600 fewer STEM professionals. That number is not decided in HR departments but in classrooms.

Robotics in the classroom rarely fails for lack of interest. It fails because simulation is not the same as hardware that sometimes falls over.

Our answer: uMe Uno as a real, working humanoid platform – operable without programming knowledge, open to everyone who wants to go deeper. Those who get hands-on with robotics at school build it later.

What a humanoid robot does in the classroom

A humanoid robot in the classroom is a learning platform with spoken dialogue, a display and open interfaces, making programming, sensor technology, AI and human–robot interaction tangible in practice.

• Programming lessons from block-based to ROS2 – the same hardware for every level
• Speech and dialogue projects in German and English
• AI you can touch: object and person recognition explained visibly instead of claimed in the abstract
• Ethics and society: a concrete object for the discussion about automation
• Demonstrations and outreach: open days, careers orientation, partnerships

Your robot. Your data.

A robot working in your organisation sees and hears things that are nobody’s business outside it. That is why the AI processing runs on the device and not in someone else’s cloud. A permanent internet connection is not required for operation — closed hospital, care and laboratory networks are possible. What is created with you stays with you: you decide on storage, analysis and deletion. Through uGo+ you define who may start which tasks, and mission reports are auditable — the basis for a data protection impact assessment, for the works council and for the authorities.

Buy or rent: Robot-as-a-Service

You can buy or rent as Robot-as-a-Service. With rental you pay a recurring monthly rate covering hardware, software maintenance and service together — from the operating budget instead of the capital budget. This is the usual route for a pilot and for a step-by-step rollout across several sites.

An honest note: rental is not automatically cheaper than purchase — it shifts risk and timing. What adds up for your organisation depends on term, quantity, funding options and budget structure. We work through that openly with you in the first conversation instead of selling you a model. We do not publish prices, because configuration and integration scope decide the outcome — a figure without that context would be misleading.

Frequently asked questions

Do teachers need programming knowledge?

No. Dialogues, routines and learning modules are configured through uGo+. For computer science and robotics courses there are additionally REST, MQTT, WebSocket and ROS2-compatible interfaces – then programming is the learning goal, not the prerequisite.

In which subjects can a humanoid robot be used?

Computer science and technology as a programming and sensor topic, languages as a dialogue partner, ethics and social studies as the object of the discussion about AI, and across subjects in project weeks and robotics clubs.

Does the robot run on the school network without internet?

The AI processing runs on the device. Operation does not require a permanent cloud connection – important for school networks with restrictive firewalls.

How is such a robot procured?

Through purchase or rental. For schools and education providers we additionally discuss digitalisation and equipment programmes; the application itself stays with the school authority.

Is deployment compatible with data protection at schools?

Processing takes place on the device, and the institution decides on storage and deletion. We provide the technical details for the data protection impact assessment.

Sources: OECD, Health at a Glance: Europe 2024 · Federal Statistical Office of Germany, care workforce projection, press release of 23 January 2024 · German Economic Institute, MINT Spring Report 2026.