KarunaNews Story

Two young entrepreneurs — Aris Isaac and Kaydyn Mack — have taken New Tampa, Florida’s beaches by storm. And it all started with some cardboard boxes, an RC car, and a dream. In 2024, Mack, then a fourth grader, entered his school’s K-5 STEM contest with a cardboard box attached to a remote-control car. He called it “Trash Robots Incorporated” and went home with a trophy about the size of him. “Last year, I created a trash robot and entered it into the Hillsborough STEM fair,” Mack told WFLA News. “This year, me and Aris wanted to improve the design and make it more compatible for beaches.” Together, they created the ORCA: Ocean Robots Collection Administration. Their device, similar to Mack’s original prototype, is made of household objects: Cardboard, wood, and an RC car. This new iteration is decorated to resemble an orca whale, playing on its namesake and acting as a nod to what inspired the boys in the first place; they were moved to action when they heard that over 800 species of wildlife are affected by beach pollution. The two are now seeking investors so they can take ORCA from a prototype to a real-life product and are testing the robot out on the beach.