September the 28th, 2025 – The Croatian robot “Carpathia” has created a link between robotics and the nautical world, and it’s all the creation of one talented innovator from Rijeka.
As Morski writes, young computer engineer and innovator Karlo Džafić first made himself known to the Croatian public about three years ago with his work on a humanoid robot created through an open-source project.
This time, on Radio Rijeka, he presented himself with his Croatian robot “Carpathia”, used for the automated polishing of boat hulls when they’re moored in dry marinas.
He developed his interest in technology way back in elementary school, and honed it during his studies at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration and the Faculty of Engineering in Rijeka, from which he recently graduated.
In addition to his studies, he became involved in entrepreneurial incubators and associations, emphasising how much practical workshops in economics and meetings with mentors from the industry helped him connect engineering work with the business side of his actual product development.
The talented Karlo Džafić is otherwise part of a team that has been participating in an international competition in Monaco in more recent years – first with electric vessels in a class in which a judge steers, and then in the newly introduced AI category. In that category, autonomous steering is taken over by artificial intelligence. His team won third place in one of the classes in a strong competition.
The path also led him through student networks and projects abroad, which, he revealed, was crucial for exchanging knowledge and ideas with peers from other countries and for joining teams working on electric vessels and autonomy.
He is currently focused on developing his very own inspiring entrepreneurial story. As part of the startup Hartera Robotics, he’s working on the aforementioned Croatian-made robot called “Carpathia”. This fantastic idea arose from the needs of the domestic nautical sector and the physically demanding work that technology can easily accelerate.
