* In this blog series, we will be posting 8 short stories displayed in Unidentified Acts of Design, exploring contemporary production and manufacturing in Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta. This week we look at an engineer who took his idea for DIY robots and used Shenzhen’s unique resources to build his own company.
The Engineers / Makeblock
Makeblock is a DIY robotics company founded by Wang Jianjun in Shenzhen in 2012. The company aims to lower the threshold for DIY creation by simplifying three elements critical to robotics: electronics, mechanics and software. By designing a modular system with number-coded plug-in electronic parts, and by introducing a simplified coding language, Makeblock allows novices to easily conceive and build their own robots, mechanical devices and art installations. Makeblock was an early participant of the HAX Accelerator, a program that brings start-ups to Shenzhen to help build and launch product ideas.
