11-year-old engineer from Tomsk builds with his tools

Daniil Orlov is 11 years old. Since his first year of life, electrical appliances have interested him more than toys. Now he repairs cars, fixes household appliances, and creates amazing things. He is the hero of a popular blog where he is compared to Elon Musk. Videos of him garner millions of views. He also appeared in a popular television program. We spoke with the young genius and his mother.

“Our Apartment Turned into a Garage”

The Orlov family is large: mother, father, Daniil himself, his baby sister, a cat, a dog, a tomcat, and a rat, lists the boy’s mother Inna. Now they all live in a private house in the village of Ryazanskaya in the Krasnodar region (southern Russia), and before that they lived in Tomsk. The Siberians decided to move because they wanted more warmth and space for the family.

— “In Tomsk, we had an apartment. There wasn’t much space, so it was inconvenient for Daniil to work there. Our apartment turned into a garage. Now he has a real garage at his disposal. He tinkers there,” says Inna.

She recalls that her son first showed interest in technology when he was one year old. He slept hugging electrical sockets, inserted plugs from household appliances into onions, potatoes, and watermelons. He constantly reached for appliances, took them out, and played with them. At three years old, the boy assembled an electric washbasin with a small motor by himself, which amazed the whole family.

Daniil himself recalls that once his experiments ended with a loud “bang.” However, this did not cool his curiosity: he still wanted to understand what is hidden inside household devices and how they work.

— “In kindergarten, children came with toys, but he carried wires, boards, plugs. They kicked him out, said that such things cannot be carried. He got offended, cried, asked: ‘Why can everyone carry toys, but I can’t carry mine?’ We answered him: ‘Your toys don’t meet the standard. It’s nothing serious.’”

According to Inna, in kindergarten, Daniil was diagnosed with OVZ — limited health capabilities due to “insufficient cognition of the world.” This means that he has sufficient cognition of the world only in one direction, and he simply rejects the others.

Until the third grade, Daniil attended school. Studying was difficult for him, and communication with peers did not work out; he never managed to make friends. Therefore, his parents transferred him to an online school.

The Boy Has a Welding Machine and an Angle Grinder

Daniil’s parents did not suppress his hobby but supported it. Already at two years old, he received his first “adult” tools as gifts: a screwdriver and a multimeter. His father regularly brought parts from work: wires, boards, and other components for experiments.

When Daniil became old enough for independent walks, he started searching for materials for his projects. He went around garbage areas hoping to find old equipment — and often returned with finds. This way, he managed to find a working air conditioner, microwave, printer, massage device, and even a refrigerator. If the find was within his strength, he dragged it to his room-garage and disassembled it into parts there. If the item was too heavy, then Daniil extracted the necessary parts on the spot. Appliances that could be disassembled for parts were often given by acquaintances and relatives, the boy says.

Interest in technology grew into real skill. Today, 11-year-old Daniil not only assembles and disassembles various devices but also earns money from it. People started turning to him for help: first one man asked him to repair a car, then other clients with various breakdowns followed. Neighbors in the village also often ask the boy to repair something.

Now in the young master’s collection — a whole set of professional tools: soldering iron, circular saw, screwdriver, oscillating multi-tool, two frequency converters, welding machine, angle grinder, belt sander, jigsaw, and much more, boasts Daniil.

Recently, he set an ambitious goal — to assemble his own pit bike from scratch. For this, he has already bought a frame, motor, and ignition coil.

Blog Hero

Three years ago, Inna started developing a blog dedicated to Daniil. In it, she talks about the boy’s skills, craftsmanship, and projects, presenting him as Daniil ZewsOn. Gradually, the blog gained popularity, and now 89 thousand subscribers follow Daniil’s life. Videos of him garner millions of views.

— “People write various things: good and not very good. Some in the comments compare him to Elon Musk. They say that in the future he will take us to space. Some called him Tony Stark. Some write that Daniil does things incorrectly, not very safely. He doesn’t do it as they would like,” reflects Inna.

In 2024, Daniil Orlov became famous throughout the country. He became the hero of the program “Chudo” on NTV, where he presented his inventions: a smoke machine and an automatic vegetable cutter. And during the program, together with the host, he assembled a potato cannon.

Future Plans

Daniil is not yet thinking about what he wants to do after school. The young genius has no super-grandiose plans. However, he is sure of one thing. No matter what happens to him, he wants to engage in his favorite activity.

— “Study after school — no, I don’t want to. I want to tinker.”