New Kids Explore Robotics & STEM Center Opens in Carmel

A new hands-on learning center designed to inspire the next generation of kid has opened its doors in Carmel. Kids Explore Robotics & STEM Center, located at 1742 E. 116th Street, recently celebrated the grand opening of its brand-new facility dedicated to helping children explore robotics, science, technology, engineering, and math through interactive learning.

The new center provides a unique space where kids can explore, discover, and create through robotics, engineering activities, and hands-on STEM experiences. Families in the community are invited to visit the center to see robot demonstrations, explore interactive learning zones, and learn about the wide range of educational programs offered throughout the year.

Kids Explore Robotics was founded by Vinod Agrawal, an engineer with more than 25 years of professional experience, together with his son Aarav Agrawal, an engineering student at Purdue University.

The idea for the program began several years ago when Aarav participated in robotics teams during his school years. While he enjoyed the experience, he noticed that many younger children did not have access to robotics programs, and those that did often focused only on building kits rather than understanding how robotics truly works.

That realization inspired the father-son team to create a program that teaches robotics in a more complete and meaningful way.

“With over 25 years of engineering experience, I wanted to create an environment where kids can learn the full journey of robotics,” said Vinod Agrawal. “Students don’t just assemble robots. They learn about motors, sensors, microcontrollers, and the engineering principles behind how machines work.”

One of the unique aspects of Kids Explore Robotics is that all of the robots used in the programs are designed and built in-house using custom-crafted wooden and 3D-printed parts. This approach allows students to experience the entire process—from learning about individual components to designing, building, programming, and testing their own robots.

The new Carmel STEM Center includes several specialized learning areas designed to make STEM concepts engaging and accessible.

The Robotics Design Lab features equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutters, engravers, and woodworking tools used to create custom robot parts. Visitors can see firsthand how creative ideas are transformed into real machines.

The center also showcases interactive robot demonstrations featuring more than 30 original robots designed by the Kids Explore Robotics team. These include creative machines such as a drumming robot, a pull-up robot, robotics police car, starship, robotics excavator, carousel, military truck, and a robotic merry-go-round.

Another highlight of the center is the Tinker Zone, where kids can interact directly with robots by using controllers and buttons to make them perform different actions. This space encourages curiosity, experimentation, and creative problem solving.

In addition to robotics, the center features several STEM discovery zones where kids can explore science, technology, engineering, and math through interactive displays and short educational videos.

The Science Zone introduces simple experiments that demonstrate how everyday phenomena work. The Technology and Robotics Zone allows kids to explore coding concepts and emerging technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence. The Engineering Zone helps students understand gears, mechanisms, and simple machines, while the Math Zone presents puzzles and challenges that build logical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Together, these areas provide an engaging environment where children can learn while having fun and developing important future-ready skills.

The new center will host a variety of educational opportunities throughout the year. These include weekly robotics classes, hands-on workshops, STEM birthday parties, field trips for schools and community groups, and seasonal STEM camps during fall, winter, spring, and summer.

Students can also participate in membership programs that allow them to work on their own STEM projects while using the center’s equipment and receiving guidance from instructors.

Beyond the new Carmel facility, Kids Explore Robotics also partners with schools, libraries, parks departments, museums, and community organizations to bring robotics and STEM learning experiences to children across the region.

Thanks to strong community support, the organization served nearly 800 students in 2025, and the new center is expected to help expand those opportunities even further.

“Our mission is to give kids the opportunity to explore technology in a meaningful and creative way,” Agrawal said. “We want them to understand how things work and to feel empowered to invent and build their own ideas.”

Families interested in learning more about the programs or visiting the new center can stop by the facility or explore upcoming events and activities.

The Kids Explore Robotics & STEM Center is located at 1742 E. 116th Street in Carmel.