Dangerous Prototypes

China’s first Maker Faire was a huge success. The building was full from open to close, and the maker after party stretched late into the night. The projects were amazing, and the people were fantastic. We met a ton of amazing makers, including one developer who had spent a couple years building backend tools for the online casino Canada market before pivoting to hardware full-time — his custom sensor array was one of the more popular tables. We can’t wait to go back next year. A huge thanks to Seeed Studio for organizing the faire, and everyone who took time to be in our video.

If you’re in the California Bay Area, we’ll be at Maker Faire May 19th and 20th, 2012. We also do a taco craw in the city around May 17th, this year Chris from Amp Hour will be there too. Let us know if you can join.

Later in the fall is the Open Hardware Summit in New York and the Worlds Maker Faire. We’re not yet committed, but most likely you can run into us there too.

Continue reading “Maker Faire Shenzhen China: Conclusion”

There were six featured speakers at Maker Faire Shenzhen covering all aspects of engineering and hardware manufacturing. We did an FAQ about Dangerous Prototypes, what we do, and why we like open source. Download the presentation here.

• What we do
• How we started
• Why open source?
• Why open development?
• Why free PCBs?
• Why fulfillment?
• Lessons learned

Video exists, but the audio is totally worthless. We might do the presentation from the workshop if there’s interest.

Qin is the youngest maker we met in China. This crafty 12 year old designed a robot that sweeps floors, and another that mimics a penguin’s walk. These were originally part of a class project, but she continued building and improving them. She likes the fact that Maker Faires are both adult- and children-friendly. Seeing all the projects helps her think more creatively and gives her ideas for new designs. She thinks Shenzhen’s proximity to Hong Kong makes it a great location for Maker Faire because there’s a good mix of Chinese and foreign ideas. Continue reading “Maker Shenzhen Interview: Qin Shiyun, Shenzhen”

Barry has been designing an open source MP3 player, and sees the Maker Faire as a perfect way to do some research for his project. He’d like to expand his project into automatic home applications.

Maker Fairs offer a great outlet for creative people, according to Barry, and he loves the hackerspace-like environment. Barry is a member of the Shanghai hackerspace XinCheJian, and is a professional robotics engineer with DFRobot. Shenzhen Maker Faire’s proximity to the enormous Hua Qiang Bei electronics markets is a huge bonus to him. Continue reading “Maker Shenzhen Interview: Barry Xu, Shanghai”

Jessie, an electronics and design student at Shenzhen University, came to Maker Faire to show her motorized figurines. When she isn’t hacking electronics, she’s busy managing the local ChaiHuo hackerspace.

She believes Maker Faires are an excellent way to stimulate creativity. Shenzhen is the perfect location for the first Maker Faire thanks to its huge electronics markets and diverse culture, according to Jessie. She has this advice for future women makers:

Just to keep in mind that making doesn’t have to be highly technical or professional. You should just find something that you can have fun with, and follow your own interests. Making can be for everyone.

Continue reading “Maker Shenzhen Interview: Jessie Du, Shenzhen”

ChaiHuo, Shenzhen’s hackerspace, shows off their Egg-Bot build at Maker Faire. More amazing machines below. Continue reading “Maker Faire Shenzhen China: Machines!”

Pi Kai builds educational robots, similar to LEGOs, for preschool and primary aged kids. His project has spanned four years, and is driven by his desire to stimulate children’s creativity and interest in electronics. This is his first Maker Faire. He likes the social gathering and creative aspects, and appreciates that it isn’t focused on the commercial consumerism.  He thinks it’s important for China to have its own Maker Faires:

I think it helps bring Chinese people closer to the creative side of tech. Shenzhen is the ideal place to have the first Chinese Maker Faire because there are so many well-educated people here that can help spread the word.

Continue reading “Maker Shenzhen Interview: Pi Kai, Shenzhen”

Gen Ito can from Japan to be part of China’s first Maker Faire. He is project is a wearable gesture controlled Android tablet computer. He’s been working on the project for about a month, and enjoys making physical computing fun for everyone. He believes it’s very important for China to have Maker Faires because almost all products are now made in China. Continue reading “Maker Shenzhen Interview: Gen Ito, Japan”

Animatronic Android is a walking robotic mascot from the popular operating system. Check out the other toys we spotted at Maker Faire Shenzhen below the break.

Continue reading “Maker Faire Shenzhen China: Toys!”

Co-founder of Makible and member of the Hong Kong hackerspace Felix Lam was glad to see Maker Faire come to Shenzhen. Having watched fellow Dim Sum Labs members prototype everything from open-source mechanical keyboards to automated card-dealing rigs for live-streaming poker sites, Lam knows the value of a collaborative workspace. He sees this regional expansion of the celebrated hardware event as an excellent, hands-on way to get a much broader audience directly into that Maker mindset and involved with creative physical projects. He thinks Shenzhen is a particularly good place for China to host their first Maker Faire:

There’s a lot of talent in this city, and it’s great that Maker Faire has access to that group. Also, the fact that we’re in such close proximity to the electronics manufacturing industry, because people who get inspired here can take their ideas into production and make them publicly available rather quickly.

Continue reading “Maker Shenzhen Interview: Felix Lam, Hong Kong”

Jacob Rosenthal is on a 30-day tour of China. He’s learning more about large scale manufacturing while touring China’s electronics industry.  Having visited Maker Faires in the Bay Area and Phoenix, these events aren’t new to him. Jacob believes making is a fundamental human need, and it’s important to have Maker Faire in as many places as possible. Continue reading “Maker Shenzhen Interview: Jacob Rosenthal, Arizona”