Russian Schools Introduce Robotics and Smart Greenhouses for Agricultural Training

A new education program teaches Russian students how to build farm robots and test them in real-world environments — before they even graduate.

Specialized agricultural classrooms are appearing in Russian schools as part of a national initiative to prepare the next generation of ag-tech engineers. One such program recently launched in the Vologda region, where students design and build robots for farming applications — and then test them on a dedicated robotics training ground.

The test site includes nine modules that simulate a variety of challenges, such as drone accuracy, adaptability to changing conditions, and cross-country mobility in rural terrain. Students also have access to a weather station, a smart greenhouse, digital labs, and an interactive veterinary atlas.

These ag-tech classrooms are being rolled out not only in Vologda, but in other parts of Russia as well. And the early results are promising: young innovators are already filing patents and launching viable prototypes. Russian students have developed, among other projects, a greenhouse robot named Vavilov and an autonomous gardening robot built for Arctic conditions — machines that are now being deployed across the country’s agricultural sector.