(ECNS) -- In Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, a team of young entrepreneurs whose average age is under 30, just turned a sci-fi dream of powered "mech suits" into affordable, lightweight exoskeletons which are now sold in more than 70 countries and regions around the world.
Sun Kuan, founder of Hypershell (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. and a millennial who specialized in exoskeleton simulation in graduate school, set an ambitious goal from the outset: to take the lab-bound, medical-grade exoskeletons that typically cost tens of thousands of dollars and turn them into affordable devices for everyday wear.
"Exoskeleton development is a highly interdisciplinary engineering challenge," Sun said. "In Shenzhen, we can bring together experts across many fields and line up every material and supplier we need within days. Send out a request for a prototype part in the morning, and we'll often have the physical sample in hand by evening."
That complete industrial chain across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area dramatically speeds up hardware iteration. Local governments have reinforced it by offering startups wide-ranging support, from industrial space and financing to real-world pilot projects and help recruiting talent.
"In the emerging humanoid robotics sector, Nanshan alone is home to more than 25 companies working solely on whole-system integration," said Wang Xiaomei, head of the Key Industries Division at the Nanshan District Bureau of Industry and Information Technology.
"The ecosystem here rewards collaboration, especially around the Robotics Valley cluster, where universities, research institutes and manufacturers sit side by side. From design and prototyping to testing, the whole value chain is tightly integrated, which makes coordination extremely efficient," Wang added.
(By Yang Qiaochu)
京公网安备 11010202009201号