2016年CRI Edible Worms, Ping Pong Robots: Startups Gind Mecca in Shenzhen

Stairs present a difficult challenge for most robots, but not for Roveo.

Swiss startup Rovenso's remotely operated rover has been designed for use in disaster zones inaccessible 1 due to contamination and rough terrain 2.

Roveo weighs about 300 kilograms and is up to 2 metres long, with four wheels whose innovative 3 linkage 4 system allows it to climb over tall obstacles while carrying heavy loads.

Lucian Cucu, co-founder 5 of Rovenso, says the Chinese city of Shenzhen is an ideal place to be for entrepreneurs who want to turn their ideas into actual devices.

"So the advantages of being in Shenzhen China or just anywhere in China close to factories is first of all you can get CNC (computer numerical control) parts or any kind of manufactured pieces that you need for the robot extremely quickly."

As the world's electronics manufacturing capital, the metropolis 6 is home to some of China's biggest and hottest companies. Many are led by a new wave of young Chinese entrepreneurs hoping to build global brand recognition.

Divided from Hong Kong by a river, Shenzhen was a quiet fishing enclave of about 300,000 people when then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping designated it the country's first "special economic zone" in 1979.

Now a sprawling 7 megacity of 11 million people, its fortunes were made churning out cheap clothes, electronics and toys for big foreign brands.

But low cost manufacturers like Apple supplier Foxconn have been moving inland or out of China as labour costs increased. Now the city's focus is on higher value-added, homegrown technology.

Innovative new companies are being drawn 8 by Shenzhen's well-established manufacturing supply chains and transport links, proximity 9 to Hong Kong's banking 10 and financial expertise 11, and better transport links and milder weather compared to Beijing and Shanghai.

Ping pong enthusiasts 12 Harrison and Alexander Chen's table tennis training machine, Trainerbot, is about the size of a large pineapple and can be programmed via smartphone to fire balls at specific areas and give them certain spins.

The brothers, raised in Taiwan, managed to build two prototypes a week in Shenzhen, thanks to the city's vast electronics markets and 3D printing services.

Alexander Chen says he wants to bring robots to the masses.

"So there are 300 million people on Earth that play pingpong and a lot of them see robots as a professional tool. So only people on a high level own robots today because they're so hard to use and limited in training. And we want to bring that to more than just training, we want to bring it to everyone, because it's fun."

Another Shenzhen based start-up promises to revolutionize what we eat, by allowing foodies to grow their own insects at home with a desktop 13 hive, and then eat them.

Livin Farms' Austrian founder Katharina Unger says mealworms are a healthy, sustainable alternative to modern, industrialised food production.

"We love it roasted and just crispy like a snack with some salt or some barbecue spicing but you can also grind them up and bake cookies with it or muffins or even bread or tortillas. You can treat them as minced 14 meat, that's another way. So you can make a pasta sauce with it for example. Or you can grind them up and make them into a burger patty or dumplings."

The company exceeded its 100,000 dollar crowdfunding goal by half as much again, after a session last autumn with Hax, an "accelerator" for hardware startups.

Hax, which was founded five years ago in Shenzhen, brings groups of startups to the area, gives them funding, technical help, and introduces them to the countless 15 component 16 suppliers and factories in and around the city to speed up prototype development.

Industrial experts are confident that in the years ahead the tech sector 17 in Shenzhen will continue to grow and thrive, helping 18 to bring China's innovations to the wider world.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.