Russian Village Kids Build a Robot Nurse Assistant
In a small Siberian village, two teenagers designed a robot that delivers medicine to hospital patients—proof that meaningful innovation can come from anywhere.
In the remote village of Malaya Zorkaltseva in western Siberia, two school students have created a robot that helps nurses distribute medicine in children’s hospitals. Their invention, called Romashka (“Daisy”), has won national awards and caught the attention of medical professionals for its potential to make healthcare faster and safer.
The students—Rodion Manukov and Matvey Golubtsov—spent more than a year and a half building and programming the device. Romashka earned second place at a regional robotics championship and is designed to automate one of the most time-consuming hospital tasks: delivering medication to patients.
How the Robot Works
Romashka follows a pre-programmed route through hospital corridors, stopping at specific rooms to deliver medication. Access to the robot’s internal compartments is secured with fingerprint identification, ensuring that only authorized medical staff can open them. Each child wears a color-coded electronic wristband, which the robot scans to confirm the patient’s identity before dispensing the correct dose.
The design eliminates the risk of medication mix-ups—a common source of error in busy pediatric wards—and reduces the workload for nurses.
Built for Real-World Needs
Their teacher and mentor, Alexey Tseyner, has been training students for national robotics competitions for years. But the school’s principal, Rinat Nugmanov, says the real achievement lies in how the students’ work meets genuine human needs.
The project has drawn interest from regional healthcare institutions, which see it as a practical way to modernize hospital workflows. For now, Romashka remains a student prototype—but one that shows how even small communities can drive big changes in technology and care.
