MakerCamp
Shenzhen Round 2
The last time I visited Shenzhen was in the summer of 2019. At that time, I was working on designing the very first version of Project Captivates with David Ramsay—a smart eyeglass platform intended to measure human attention and audience engagement at events, at least that was before COVID hit and we had to pivot. It was nostalgic to have the opportunity to visit a second time with David and see how the city has changed.
I loved visiting Shenzhen for the first time and exploring HQB, although I remember feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the stimuli. There was so much! You could build virtually anything and have access to almost any kind of factory. For this second visit, I intended to come in with a more thorough plan to execute and to make the most of my time.
CollarID (Lions!)
The goal of this trip is to focus on my CollarID project, a wearable for dogs and lions that tracks not only their movements but also their environments. The aim is to build a more comprehensive dataset to better understand how animal behavior relates to external events, such as wildfires, human activity, and the presence of other animals.
HQB
HQB really hasn’t changed much since my last visit. I was expecting there to be less, given how expensive real estate is becoming in Shenzhen, but I was pleasantly surprised. During our last trip, we visited a vendor where Bunnie buys many of his small tools, and they were still there, with much more to show. What fascinated me most about this visit was the secondhand phone market. You can find virtually any phone that has ever been made, including some really tiny ones where I was surprised they could even fit a SIM card slot.
I always love seeing the new types of LEDs that come out into the market. These lightbulbs were awesome and the filament can be curled to virtually any design.
I also picked myself up a spot welder for $20, easily my most fun purchase thus far at HQB!
Custom Parts
Given that I am designing a collar for both dogs and lions, I need custom parts to ensure everything fits into a compact design. One of the most important components is the battery, as my housing has a fixed design with a cavity that needs to accommodate the largest battery possible, within the given specifications. Armed with my dimensions, I contacted a few battery vendors. Within minutes, they returned with quotes for batteries that fit my exact specifications—at just $1 each!
Hotel Room Shenanigans
My hotel room became my quiet hacking oasis, where I often worked through the night, evaluating PCBAs I had just made in nearby factories. As great as it was, I did miss having full-sized test equipment, but I made do with the compact instruments I found in HQB.
I also occasionally had a chance to step out to COCO Park and grab myself a healthy smoothie. =)
Touring Seeed Studio
I knew Seeed Studio makes a lot of hardware for makers, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how aggressively they are expanding into the environmental sensing sector, including more industrial applications. Given that this is a core part of my PhD work, I loved seeing all the distributed sensing systems they were actively developing and making available for others to use. (Also, their indoor rock climbing wall was awesome!)
Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for Society (AIRS)
AIRS was very kind in hosting us and providing lab space to work in every day while we stayed at a nearby hotel. Touring their facilities, we saw many fascinating robots, including the one pictured above, which is a multi-degree-of-freedom modular system! It was also interesting to see how AIRS incorporates these utilitarian robots into their art installations.
Can’t wait to come back!
Shenzhen was an amazing experience, just as good as the first time around. I was surprised to see how quickly the city has grown since my last visit five years ago. There were far more EVs on the road, and paying for things virtually was significantly easier for foreigners. I truly can’t wait to come back in another five years to see how this beautiful city continues to evolve.
I would also like to highlight Cedric Honnet and thank him for organizing this trip for all of us!