Ukrainian war refugee builds autonomous mine-detecting drone

Ukrainian entrepreneur Yehor Tereshchenko, who fled to Finland as a 15-year-old school student, is developing an autonomous, voice-controlled drone startup at Aalto University, Yle reports.

Tereshchenko, now 19, founded Aerorozum, a startup developing the drone prototype in a technical laboratory in Otaniemi, Espoo. The company has fewer than 20-year-old employees, and Tereshchenko and co-founder Diana Antoniuk are its only full-time workers.

The drone is designed to respond to spoken commands, such as being told to inspect a particular area for suspicious people or vehicles. The goal is for it to operate as independently as possible, without remote control.

Once completed, the drone could perform the tasks of modern drones while also working autonomously. It would be able to avoid obstacles, continue operating during connection problems and search for mines in the terrain, Tereshchenko says.

The prototype is based on drones used by the Ukrainian army, but includes additions such as an onboard computer and a depth camera. Tereshchenko says the system would not require many operators or dozens of hours of training.

The startup’s work is demanding. Alongside practical drone development, Tereshchenko attends meetings and travels to hackathons, coding events where participants develop solutions.

From wartime Ukraine to Finland

During the winter of 2023, Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure left cities without electricity, water, heating and internet connections. Tereshchenko had been one of the best students at an IT-focused upper secondary school in Dnipro, but could no longer study normally.

His grandmother took him to Finland while his parents remained in Ukraine. They arrived in Parkano during a snowstorm.

“I had never seen so much snow in my life. In places, it reached the roofs of houses,” Tereshchenko recalls.

The apartment at the reception centre had electricity and heating. He continued studying remotely and says his daily life consisted of his laptop and the Finnish natural surroundings.

Tereshchenko completed the studies he had started in Ukraine in two years. At 17, he began a bachelor’s degree at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki.

That same year, he also got a part-time job related to artificial intelligence at Metropolia. He later joined the Chinese company Huawei, where its research department had been seeking master’s or doctoral graduates.

“But they chose me, a bachelor’s student,” Tereshchenko says. He cannot discuss the content of the work.

Building a dream job

After six months at Huawei, Tereshchenko realised he was not doing the work he wanted. He resigned and decided to establish his own startup.

He continues to finance the company with money he earned at Huawei.

The startup aims to develop civilian uses for the drone as well. These could include searching for missing people in the terrain and identifying plants suffering from disease or pests in fields.

AI-equipped drones are being developed around the world. “If a perfect alternative already existed, we would not be here,” says Antoniuk, an Aalto University student and the startup’s other co-founder.

Most of the rest of the team is Ukrainian. Antoniuk says she hopes future generations will live in a safer world.