【China Startup】如今的机器人相当于20年前的PC机|The robot-maker

With every desk decorated with DIY models and widgets, the office of DFRobot leaves no doubt that this is a space for creative doers.
在DFRobot的办公室内，DIY模型和小器件装点着每张办公桌，毋庸置疑，这是一个创客空间。

Ye Chen, the CEO of the robotics and open source hardware provider, has one simple requirement of his engineers, i.e., that they be makers, people who have built something before they come to join him.
叶琛就是这家机器人公司的CEO，他也是开源硬件的供应商。他对手下的工程师只有一个简单的要求：他们在加入公司之前就必须是创客。

“Some people say I want to build something. But if you haven’t actually spent your time in practice to build one thing, it will always be your dream; you won’t be a maker,” says Ye.
叶琛说，“有些人说想要制作出点什么。但是如果你曾经没有真正地花时间制作过什么东西的话，那么这个想法将永远只是你的梦，你也不会成为什么创客。”







Ye founded DFRobot in 2008, growing what in 2003 was an online robotics community called Robotic Fans into a dream robotics factory.
叶琛2008年创立了DFRobot公司，公司最开始萌芽于2003年，那时候它还是一个名叫“机器人爱好者“ 的线上机器人社区，而最终，叶琛将这个社区变成了梦想中的机器人工厂。

As a PhD student back then, Ye was already in the midst of building a robot. Although the work was a serious struggle, he was far ahead of those who were still just imagining and talking about the future of robotics.
叶琛还在读博士的时候就已经开始做机器人了。尽管这项工作阻碍重重，但是他比那些还只是在想象和凭空谈论机器人未来的人强太多了。

His efforts led him to focus on the idea of a sensor that could be used for robots manufacturing. Ye and his partner started by building an ultrasonic sensor in 2005, and then in 2006, Ye sought to promote it to the robotics community worldwide.
经过他的努力，他将注意力投向一种可以应用于机器人制造中的传感器。基于这个想法，叶琛与他的合伙人在2005年开始做一种超声传感器。2006年，叶琛致力于将这种传感器推向全世界的机器人社区。

“We thought we need to build something, a key component that would make it easier for people to build robots,” recalls Ye.
叶琛回想到，“我们认为我们需要做出点什么，而这个创作的核心就是要简化人们制作机器人的过程。”





Their sensor was widely acclaimed and soon they began receiving orders for the product. As orders grew, Ye decided that it was time to set up a proper company.
他们的传感器受到了广泛好评且马上开始接收产品订单。随着订单量的不断增加，叶琛觉得是时候创立一家正式的公司了。

At the beginning, DFRobot mainly focused on research in robotics, with most of their products and services targeted at universities. With time, however, they ventured into the open source hardware market in 2010, believing that it was there that the future of robotics lay.
起初，DFRobot主要关注于机器人的研究工作，而大部分的产品和服务都面向大学。随着时间的推移，他们于2010年冒险进入开源硬件市场，因为他们相信这个市场才是未来机器人发展的据点。

“It is far too complicated for just one company to build robots. You need different components built by different suppliers,” says Ye, who believes that open source hardware could greatly speed up the whole process of innovation.
“如果仅由一家公司来制造机器人，那么这个过程就太复杂了。你需要不同的供应商来提供不同的部件，”叶琛这样说，他相信开源硬件会极大地加快整个的创新过程。


“The best part of our open source products is that it is very easy to convert the idea into actual prototype,” he explains.
叶琛解释道，“开源硬件最佳的部分是它可以很容易地把想法转换成实际雏形。“




We are trying to help people build robots easily, that’s what we wanted to do. ——Ye Chen, founder of DFRobot
我们正试图帮助人们更容易地制造出机器人，这就是我们的宗旨。——叶琛，DFRobot创始人


Ye’s initial interest in open source hardware dates back to the time he spent at Nottingham University while pursuing a PhD. Frustrated in the search for certain products, he had turned to open source alternatives.
叶琛对开源硬件的初始兴趣还要追溯到他在诺丁汉大学读博士的那段时间。在寻找适合开发的产品的过程中，他感到沮丧，最终他将注意力投向了开源硬件这个备选项目。

“Since I need it, the community needs it. So probably a niche market exists for open source hardware. We decided to concentrate or focus on very certain demand and probably some of them would become a majority demand,” he says, explaining the strategy behind the focus on open source hardware.
叶琛对选择开源硬件的原因做出了解释，“因为我需要他，而且整个社区也需要它。所以开源硬件这个市场可能存在商机。我们决定专注于或关注于某些特定的需求，而这些特定的需求当中可能有一些会变成主要需求，”


And the strategy has paid rich rewards. Seven years since DFRobot was founded, the company has found itself working with tech giants like Intel and Microsoft and has also provided over one million pieces of hardware to makers, teachers and students, helping in some 20,000 creative projects.
这一战略带来了优厚的回报。DFRobot自创立七年以来，已经和像因特尔和微软这样的技术巨头有过合作，且已经向创客、老师和学生们提供了100多万份硬件，在2，0000多个创作项目当中给予支持。





DFRobot has also helped cultivate an active online and offline community. Yet for Ye, whose company now hires 150 people, DFRobot is still just in the startup phase in terms of robotics market.
DFRobot也帮助孵化一个积极的线上和线下社区。但是对叶琛来说，尽管公司现在已经雇佣150名员工，DFRobot在机器人市场当中仍然处在初创阶段。

Sales of industrial robots in China increased by 51% to 56,000 robots in 2014, making it the world’s biggest market for industrial robots. But this is just the beginning, given that there are merely 23 robots for every 10,000 workers in the country.
在中国，工业机器人2014年的销售量已经增加了51%，达到5,6000个机器人的制造数量。这使中国成为世界最大的工业机器人市场。但是这仅仅是开始，因为在中国，就平均水平来说，每1,0000名工人可使用的机器人只有23个。

What’s more, the global market for professional and domestic service robots is steadily growing, with the value of professional robots sector estimated at 3.57 billion US dollars and that of domestic service robots estimated at 1.7 billion US dollars
此外，全球专业和家庭服务类机器人的市场在稳步增长，其中专业机器人领域的市值预估在35.7亿美元，而家庭服务类机器人的市值预估为17亿美元。

And DFRobot is looking to leverage this growth. It is currently focused on service robotics, working with 300 distributors worldwide. Much of its customer base is based outside the Chinese mainland, with most coming from the US.
在这样的大背景下，DFRobot期待利用这一增长趋势。公司现专注于服务类机器人，并为此和世界上300个经销商展开合作。大部分客户基础都来自中国大陆以外的地区，其中美国占多数。

However, with the Chinese government’s latest "Made in China 2025" technology route map of key industries, locating industrial Internet and robotics as the core area, the customer base could begin to shift.
然而，中国政府最近的“中国制造2025”技术路线图上显示，在主要产业当中，工业互联网和机器人成为了核心领域。这样一来，客户基础可能会开始发生转变。


However, robotics for Ye is not just about building things that provide a certain service; it is also about testing the limits of one’s skill and imagination.
但是，对于叶琛来说，机器人技术不仅仅是制造提供某种服务的东西；相反，它是拓宽人们技能和想象的过程。

It is for that reason that he emphasizes the need for a culture of creating things of one being a maker, as a key prerequisite to innovation. Given that, DFRobot has also encouraged hobbyists, educators, and researchers to engage in the field, and it also established a 3D printing team and launched robots that would help in education.
鉴于这个原因，他强调以创客为中心的创作文化是创新的主要先决条件。所以，DFRobot也鼓励爱好者、教育家以及研究员参与到这个领域中来。公司还组建了一个3D打印团队，并且开发可以助力教育发展的机器人。

As a father of two children, Ye wants to dedicate his efforts in robotics technology to enhancing education. He says that robotics today is where personal computing was 20 years ago.
作为两个孩子的父亲，叶琛想将他在机器人技术方面的努力转化为对相关教育的提升。他说，今天的机器人技术就是20年前的个人电脑。

Where he wants to take it is to realize his childhood dream of building a real R2D2, the fictional robot from the Star Wars franchise.
借由相关教育的发展，他希望可以实现儿时的那个梦：制作出真的R2D2机器人，将星际大战中的科幻机器人幻化成真。

棒~棒~哒~

机器人新闻日报社的………………囧

这个在微博看过~

dsweiliang 发表于 2015-12-30 16:11
这个在微博看过~

是的～～然而我发现放在我草稿箱很久了……醉了醉了

才发是中英文的………………囧

赞赞赞～
Luna大在DF工作是不是幸福感爆表

Geemi 发表于 2015-12-30 17:52
才发是中英文的………………囧

geemi兄，卖得一手好萌～

中英文，高大上。。。

virtualwiz 发表于 2015-12-30 19:56
赞赞赞～
Luna大在DF工作是不是幸福感爆表

是啊～都是些大神围绕，还有很多好奇宝宝热爱的项目～有空来玩

Luna好幸福啊，俺只能瞧瞧的羡慕你了。。哈哈！！！