Nico-Tech-Shenzhen

How a first-come, first-served exhibition and a public venue create one of Japan’s most distinctive maker eventsI recently published an English-language video from NT Kanazawa, a community-driven DIY and technology event held directly in front of Kanazawa Station in Japan. In the video, I walk through the venue and introduce robots, drones, student-built hardware, interactive installations, M5Stack projects, a walking 3D printer, humanoid robots, StampFly, StackChan, and many other experimental devices.https://medium.com/media/3297346a1663e167ac26f2000b634083/hrefThe individual projects are interesting, of course. But what continues to interest me about NT Kanazawa is not simply what people exhibit. ...

I visited the international UAV Expo in Shenzhen. I have been following this exhibition almost every year since the post-pandemic period around 2022, and I have also written several reports about China’s drone industry over the years. Because of that, this year’s change was very clear to me. To be honest, for the past few years, this drone exhibition was not always the most exciting event. By around 2018 or 2019, DJI had already become overwhelmingly strong in camera drones and many types of professional drone applications. If you wanted to build a drone-based solution, the fastest answer was often simple: ask DJI, buy DJI products, and build around them. ...

In April 2026, I went to Beijing to watch the Humanoid Robot Half Marathon. I visited the event with members of Scramble, a Japanese organization supporting the next generation of robotics engineers, and other people interested in robotics and China’s technology scene. This was the second edition of the event. The first one had around 20 teams, with only 5 teams finishing. This time, around 100 teams participated, and 49 teams finished. That change alone says a lot about the speed of development around humanoid robots in China. ...

From unknown booth to real demand — field notes from Embedded World 2026 I’m currently in Nuremberg, Germany, attending Embedded World. This is episode 3 of my field notes from the event. This time, I focused on what Maker-oriented companies like M5Stack are actually doing on the ground — and how they are connecting with the embedded industry. 👉 I recorded the actual booth visits and conversations here:https://medium.com/media/793a689d858fcae27890d8a060d6afae/hrefFrom “unknown booth” to real demand: M5Stack’s shiftThis is M5Stack’s third time exhibiting at Embedded World. ...