What: ATC SimLab delivers interactive, AI‑powered computer science simulations (sorting, networking, memory) for NTA Level 5/6. Students manipulate algorithms, ask Mistral‑powered tutor, and receive auto‑generated quizzes. Cost: ~$0.80 / semester for 200 students (Mistral small).
27% avg learning gain based on PhET Rwanda study
Offline‑first PWA works on 3G / low‑end devices
200+ ATC students target pilot cohort
7 roles student‑led agile team
mindmap
root((ATC SimLab))
Problem
No NTA‑aligned sims
Abstract CS hard to grasp
Expensive Western tools
Solution
Sorting Visualiser (5 sorts)
Network Topology (Star/Ring/Mesh)
Memory/Stack visualiser
AI Tutor + Quiz Generator
Tech
BOOM BOOM + PixiJS/Canvas
FastAPI + Supabase
Mistral AI + Codestral
Cloudflare + Render
Impact
1,000,000 students Year 1
Open source MIT
Expand to UDOM/DIT
VETA/TVET recognition
Table 1: Key differences – ATC SimLab vs. alternatives
Platform
CS‑specific
AI tutor
Low bandwidth
Open source
Suitable for ATC
PhET
❌
❌
✅
Partial
No (not CS)
uCertify
✅
❌
❌
❌
Cost prohibitive
Virtual Labs India
✅
❌
✅
❌
Aging tech, no AI
ATC SimLab
✅✅
✅ Mistral
✅ PWA
✅ MIT
Built for NTA
3. 20‑week roadmap & interactive milestones
gantt
title ATC SimLab MVP Timeline (20 weeks)
dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
axisFormat %b %d
section Phase 0: Foundation
GitHub + Supabase + FastAPI + React scaffold :p0, 2026-01-08, 21d
section Phase 1: Sorting Sim MVP
Canvas + Bubble Sort + 5 sorts + AI Tutor + Quiz :p1, after p0, 49d
Student validation (20 users) :milestone, m1, after p1, 3d
section Phase 2: Network + Memory
Network Topology, Memory/Stack, AI Narrator :p2, after m1, 42d
Formal assessment (40 students) :milestone, m2, after p2, 5d
section Phase 3: Institutionalise
Dept presentation, lecturer onboarding, handover :p3, after m2, 28d
MVP complete :milestone, m3, after p3, 1d
Milestone M4 (MVP complete)
Week 20 – 3 sims live, 50+ students, 1 lecturer assigned, assessment data shows improvement, new contributor can onboard from wiki.
4. Technical architecture summary
graph TB
subgraph Client
Browser[React PWA]
Mobile[Flutter wrapper Phase2+]
end
subgraph Edge
CF[Cloudflare Pages]
end
subgraph Backend
API[FastAPI on Render]
Cache[Redis cache]
end
subgraph AI
Mistral[Mistral AI]
Codestral[Codestral debug]
end
subgraph Data
Supabase[(Supabase PG + Auth)]
end
Browser --> CF --> API
API --> Cache
API --> Mistral
API --> Codestral
API --> Supabase
Mobile -.-> API
Key design choices: 3‑tier (React/FastAPI/Supabase), offline PWA, per‑student rate limiting, AI response caching (Redis). All API keys secured on backend.
1‑week sprints, asynchronous daily standups (GitHub Discussions), Sunday 30‑min review/retro. Definition of Done includes unit tests + peer review + CI pass. Testing pyramid: 100+ unit tests (Vitest/pytest), integration tests for AI proxy, E2E with Playwright (8 critical journeys).
graph TD
subgraph "Testing pyramid"
A[E2E – Playwright] --> B[Integration – API + Supabase mocks]
B --> C[Unit – Vitest, pytest]
end
Risk mitigation: team attrition (handover docs from week1), offline fallback, Mistral free tier with Redis caching, scope lock (one sim before expanding).
7. Cost analysis & sustainability
Monthly infrastructure (MVP): ~$0.10
Service
Tier
Monthly cost
Cloudflare Pages
Free
$0
Render backend
Free (sleep)
$0
Supabase
Free
$0
Upstash Redis
Free
$0
Mistral AI (200 students)
Pay as you go
~$0.17
AI semester cost: 20.4M input + 10.2M output tokens → Mistral Small: $1.73 total. GPT‑4o Mini would be $9.18.
pie title "Semester AI cost ($1.73)"
"Input tokens (20.4M)" : 0.61
"Output tokens (10.2M)" : 1.12
Scaling: 1,000 students → $25.85/month (Supabase Pro). 10,000 students → $58.50/month. Mistral startup credits ($30k) can be applied for in Phase 3.
The full documentation (30+ sections) includes complete API specs, database ERD, simulation design details, CI/CD workflows, risk register, and onboarding guides. This summary gives you the strategic compass. Now execute.