Russian Students Build a Robot to Clean Trash From Rivers
High school students in Russia have developed a small aquatic robot that can collect floating trash from rivers—an environmental prototype born inside the country’s expanding network of school tech labs.
Students from the city of Rybinsk in Russia’s Yaroslavl region have built an aquatic robot capable of collecting garbage from the surface of rivers. The project was unveiled at the local Kvantorium technopark, where the team developed and tested the device.
Nicknamed “Bychok” (Russian for goby), the invention is essentially a robotic platform mounted on paddle wheels. As it moves across the water’s surface, the robot captures floating debris. The system is remotely operated from a computer, allowing users to guide it toward trash hotspots and automate part of the cleanup process.
Learning to Build Tech—From School
The project is part of a broader push to introduce advanced technology education early. Across Russia, technoparks such as Kvantorium, Tochka Rosta, and IT-Cube are being opened in schools and colleges. There, students study digital technologies, robotics, and drones—and design their own working prototypes.
The Rybinsk aquarobot has already earned recognition, winning an award at a national-level technology olympiad. Officials say similar student-developed projects are increasingly making their way into real-world applications.
Today, more than 2 million children in Russia are involved in early-stage IT and technology education programs. Students regularly compete in contests and olympiads, with challenges often designed in collaboration with major IT companies.
The idea is to build a continuous talent pipeline—from classroom experiments to industrial deployment. In the case of “Bychok,” that pipeline starts with a polluted river surface and ends with a student-built machine designed to clean it.
