Вікторія Горбік Weapon 8 January 2025, 09:00

“Prevent wars and promote peace.” A 16-year-old startuper has developed a solution that will protect Ukrainian drones from electronic warfare and accelerate victory

Vadim Dobrovolsky, born in Skvir, Kyiv region, is 16 years old, he still studies at the local academic lyceum No. 2, but for 10 years he has been nurturing an idea of how to accelerate Ukraine’s victory in the war against Russian attackers. To help his father-defender, Vadim, within the framework of Ukrainian Future, a business incubator of the Small Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, created a startup PhAInix, which protects Ukrainian drones from enemy electronic warfare. With the development, the guy became a finalist in the national competition of innovative business projects National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge 2024 (NYEC). He told dev.ua how the development, which has already received recognition on the international market, works.

From a hobby to helping a father and a startup

Since childhood, from the age of 6, Vadim has been interested in everything related to electronics. Along with his passion for extreme cycling (downhill), LEGO became his hobby, which later developed to the level of development and startup.

«My developments are recognized internationally, which I never expected,» he adds.

Vadym Dobrovolsky (Photo from personal archive)

Since the beginning of the war in 2014, the guy wanted to do something for victory, then several options for devices that came to his mind were spinning in his head. The past devices were partly for himself, mostly to make life easier, namely from the military Vadim tried to create options for developing docking stations for drones or a portable internet device personally for his father.

But it was after the start of the full-scale invasion, when Vadim’s father went to defend the Motherland, that the boy gave his development momentum and development — he decided to develop a device and conduct research aimed at improving UAV technologies to make them safer and more effective.

«Since my father was a drone operator in the 79th Infantry Division, the field of application of my knowledge chose itself,» he added.

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Reborn like a Phoenix

Drones are widely used in military and special operations, but they have significant problems, in particular, loss of signal due to electronic warfare. Due to signal jamming, about 70% of drones do not reach their destination. In the event of signal loss, the drone either crashes or uses the operator’s location to return, which can be determined by the enemy, increasing the risk to life.

Drone with PhAInix board, developed by Vadym Dobrovolsky (Photo from personal archive)

Then the young developer decided to create a PhAInix device that would allow the drone to be invulnerable to any external influences without using coordinates.

In the title, Vadym linked the rebirth of the legendary Phoenix bird with artificial intelligence technologies: PhAInix — rebirth like Phoenix, with help of AI.

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Under the hood of PhAInix

PhAInix is developed on the basis of a powerful single-board computer Orange Pi. The device is made on the basis of Arduino Nano and Orange pi Zero 2w (1 and 2gb) — depending on the type: for 1 signal — Arduino, for 3 frequencies — Arduino, for 5 — Orange 1gb, for 7 — Orange 2gb. In addition, the young developer used different receivers: both RF type, and ELRS and Crossfire for drones, etc. PhAInix also includes a board with receivers, a barometer and an imu, which is attached to any drone and connects instead of a receiver (the drone system sees the device simply as a receiver). The case is printed on a 3D printer, designed from scratch, according to the dimensions of each type of device.

When the drone loses signal, the device developed by the schoolboy instantly changes the communication frequency (up to 7 different frequencies) using artificial intelligence. Thus, no electronic warfare station will be able to disable the drone. And in some situations of loss of all signals, the device has a backup algorithm for stabilization using IMU and vertical flight until one of the signals is restored.

For PhAInix, Vadym used the simplest artificial intelligence system, which simply chooses one of the values based on other values using a system of coefficients (actually an algorithm, but with a large amount of data and automatic action. Even without connecting to servers or the ability to self-learn, the system analyzes data and makes decisions, which is the essence of artificial intelligence).

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Who’s on the team?

Vadym created the PhAInix startup entirely and personally. His father, Volodymyr Dobrovolsky, helped the boy partially in the testing process, cooperation with the military, and marketing of the project.

Vadym Dobrovolsky with other contestants (Photo from personal archive)

Although the young developer has been handling all the technical aspects of the project himself, he notes that he is currently actively looking for a programmer. In addition, Vadim is already forming a team of other specialists: there is already a designer and an economist, but there is still no one responsible for the software.

«This is a key aspect for starting mass production, and now all the work is aimed at finding such people,» he says.

The team, according to the young developer, will be available by the end of winter.

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Available results

A year has already passed since the start of development. Currently, PhAInix is at the stage of a finished product. The developed technology has proven itself in many competitions. In addition, the young startuper involved the military in testing PhAInix, who helped with feedback and advice on improving the device. However, for security reasons, as Vadim notes, their data was not registered and no names or identities were indicated.

As a result of the research, the startuper found that with PhAInix, drone efficiency increases by up to 242%, the device reduces the risk of determining the operator’s location, and offers a more cost-effective solution.

«The success of the device highlights its potential to „Prevent wars and promote peace“ (editor’s note: a guide for medical professionals),» Vadim emphasizes.

The guy summarizes that PhAInix is aimed at the military — drone operators and companies that produce flight controllers, military companies. The startup already has people ready to buy PhAInix devices. Also, one of our potential buyers is the state, because PhAInix significantly reduces the costs of conducting drone operations.

Vadym plans to patent the technology in the first months of 2025. «The device is working, we are working on launching mass production and further sales in the first months of 2025,» the guy adds.

Regarding the forecast of the scale of production, Vadym has not yet made precise calculations. «But taking into account the possibility of using the device with any drone and the possibility of reducing costs in almost every case, production volumes can reach millions (taking into account the use of drones now) and, accordingly, these volumes will rest on our capabilities rather than on the market potential,» he is sure.

According to the guy, production volumes will be unstable, but will constantly increase, in accordance with the development of the startup. And the volumes will depend on the capabilities.

«The market in our case is not a constraint,» he adds.

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About money

Over $2,000 has already been invested in the project and development. More than $1,000 came from Vadym’s personal funds and about $1,000 more was added by third-party sponsors:

Yaroslav Kubatsky — $365
Sergey Kravtsov ~ $148
Dmytro Brazhny — $400

It costs $192 to make one device. The young startuper notes that there is a problem with finances right now, but not the main one. «Now we need a team, after that we will solve the problem with money, but for now the efforts are directed to finding specialists,» notes Vadim.

About plans

The young developer identified 5 stages regarding the immediate and future plans that await the startup:

Plans for the next month — searching and forming a team
Plans for the next 4 months include completing the popularization of the device (temporary, through competitions), completing the formation of the team and the distribution of responsibilities, patenting the device, and starting production (the first copies for sale).
Plans for the next six months — first sales and new testing
Plans for 2025 — device modernization (+cost reduction), establishing sales in Ukraine and possible entry into the international market (if necessary and possible)
International customers — military and SWAT government organizations of countries at war. Manufacturers of flight controllers for drones (speedy bee, mamba, jhemcu).

According to Vadim, to implement the plans, first of all, a team is needed, and then funds: taking into account the costs of production and the needs of customers: $20,000 is needed (to manufacture the first devices for sale, conduct mass testing, and obtain a development patent). But he is confident that this money (if received by mid-2025) will be returned by the end of the same year and all further sales will be in the plus.

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