A.R.T. in Shanghai

On entering Xin Dan Wei's attractive Yongjia Lu premises last Saturday, visitors were greeted by a cacophony of mechanical humming, energetic children and even more excitable adults. They had all gathered for an open house event organized by Xin Che Jian to announce plans for a robot contest, scheduled for July this year.

Upstairs, group member Ricky Ng-Adam watched as his prototype Autonomous Robot Toy (A.R.T.) was subjected to some pretty rigorous and relentless testing courtesy of some of the younger engineers-to-be present. A.R.T.'s role at the event, however, is not simply to bear the brunt of a lot of fun; rather it is to inspire would-be teams of creatives to get involved and build a robot of their own. Where many might have flinched at each crash, bang and screech, Ricky cheerfully chatted with Creative Hunt about open source software, Arduino platforms and his vision for a kind of international, robo-NASCAR.

Goggle-eyed A.R.T. makes clever use of something called Arduino – a user-programmable microprocessor that can be integrated into various projects, designed to make tinkering with electronics more accessible. The boards are fitted with a USB, so you can simply plug them into your computer, and then code your board to do, well, pretty much anything using a fairly simple Wiring-based language.

What this means for our robotic friend is that it is not your common or garden remote-controlled machine. Oh no: equipped with ultrasonic sensor 'eyes', A.R.T. can be programmed to avoid obstacles, turn corners and even blink – all on its own.




The four-wheeled robot began life as a toy truck, purchased by Ng-Adam on Taobao for a mere 67rmb. Then, like any self-respecting, curious creative, he promptly dismantled it. The engineer is particularly proud of the inexpensive nature of the project – thusfar, A.R.T. has cost him just 771rmb for cabling, sensors, the whole shebang. Of course, many of the components are made, readily available and cheaply sourced right here in China, and it's important to Ng-Adam and the Xin Che Jian team that getting involved in the contest is neither prohibitive in terms of cost (robots should cost no more than 1,000rmb), nor, apparently, technological know-how.

According to Ng-Adam, who was involved in similar competitions whilst at University in Canada, building such a robot is an eminently manageable challenge even for those lacking a technical background. And, buoyed by his infectious enthusiasm, I begin to believe him: the project looks like a lot of fun. To give teams a helping hand in building their machine, Xin Che Jian are organizing a robot class, comprising lectures and a full 16 hours of supervised, hands-on labs, in addition to regular weekend drop-in sessions.

Xin Che Jian was founded by David Li late last year. Already, though, it's attracting attention for not only its events, but also its function as a valuable and welcome resource for Shanghai's many creative and technical minds. Current group member projects include a 3D printer and a quadcopter (four bladed helicopter), for example, all thoroughly documented on their website: "we're really keen on the concept of open source, and likewise everything that we do is online", explains David.



Inevitably, most of the group's members have technical backgrounds – Li does consulting work for an internet company, while Ng-Adam works for Google – although it's certainly not a prerequisite. "Xin Che Jian is for everyone, and anyone whether they're digital artists, designers, hobbyists or whatever is welcome to drop by at weekends and just build stuff", explains David. "We're sponsored by a small membership fee. We don't want to turn it into a business; rather we want it to be more of a community".

In keeping with this community element of the group, the robo-contest itself will have a suitably festive feel:"It will be more like a festival – a robotic version of NASCAR. It's going to be all about speed, hopefully a few crashes, BBQ and beer of course, something for the kids too… It's about participation than anything else".

Xin Che Jian is an incredibly supportive and creative initiative – a welcome addition to Shanghai's wider design scene. They also look to be having a lot of fun. To learn more, or get involved in July's robot contest as an individual, school, university or company group, visit their website here and feel inspired.