School student develops AI-powered turtle robot and wins $50,000 scholarship

A 16-year-old student from Canada, Evan Budz, has developed an autonomous turtle-shaped robot capable of detecting microplastics directly in bodies of water using artificial intelligence. For this project, he was awarded a $50,000 scholarship, El.kz reports.

The robot autonomously follows a predetermined route and can adjust its submergence depth. An integrated holographic camera is used to analyse water by capturing light scattered by particles. Artificial intelligence algorithms then reconstruct a three-dimensional image of each particle, enabling the system to distinguish microplastics from other contaminants.

During testing, the system demonstrated an accuracy rate of approximately 94%. Unlike conventional methods, which require water samples to be collected and transported to a laboratory, the robot conducts analysis directly in the body of water. This significantly accelerates the detection of microplastics and makes environmental monitoring more accessible, including in remote areas.

The developer believes that, in the future, similar devices could assist scientists and environmental specialists in more rapidly assessing pollution levels in rivers, lakes and other bodies of water, as well as monitoring changes in environmental conditions in real time.