Chernobyl’s Robots, or the Hackathon From Hell
In an extensive update to the original 2023 video, the [Chornobyl Family] covers the mad scramble to design robots to perform on-the-ground measurements, and ultimately remove all this debris for safe disposal. The TR-1A, an early debris removal robot. (Source: Chornobyl Family, YouTube) This essentially took the form of a hackathon, involving teams from all over the USSR and allied nations, creating the most diverse range of robots that 1980s Soviet technology and later Western technology could muster. Many of these robots didn’t perform very well, or at all, mostly due to the bypassing of any kind of testing before deployment.
- ▪In an extensive update to the original 2023 video, the [Chornobyl Family] covers the mad scramble to design robots to perform on-the-ground measurements, and ultimately remove all this debris for safe disposal.
- ▪The TR-1A, an early debris removal robot. (Source: Chornobyl Family, YouTube) This essentially took the form of a hackathon, involving teams from all over the USSR and allied nations, creating the most diverse range of robots that 1980s Sov
- ▪Many of these robots didn’t perform very well, or at all, mostly due to the bypassing of any kind of testing before deployment.
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| Original publisher | Hackaday |
| Canonical URL | https://hackaday.com/2026/08/07/chernobyls-robots-or-the-hackathon-from-hell/ |
| Publication time | Fri, 07 Aug 2026 18:30:36 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-08-07T18:35:41.849Z |
| Last seen | 2026-08-07T18:35:41.849Z |
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| Cluster | fCjiauUzoIUm · 1 stories |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Chernobyl’s Robots, Or The Hackathon From Hell No comments by: Maya Posch August 7, 2026 Title: Copy Short Link: Copy When the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s #4 reactor experienced an extreme criticality event on that infamous day in 1986, the resulting steam explosion and lack of any kind of containment building meant that parts of the core were scattered throughout the site. In an extensive update to the original 2023 video, the [Chornobyl Family] covers the mad scramble to design robots to perform on-the-ground measurements, and ultimately remove all this debris for safe disposal. The TR-1A, an early debris removal robot.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Hackaday.
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