Home help tells success story

The evolution of robot manufacturer UBTech is an updated Chinese version of the classic Silicon Valley story, says its co-founder and executive director, Goti Deng,

The company identified mobile social robots as the next-generation tech field and raced to produce a working product while fighting for capital, mind share and distribution.

It's not enough to be in a hot industry, Deng says. "You have to be good in order to get attention, help and resources," he says. The company spent years burning through capital while perfecting its servos, the miniature devices that control the movements of a robotic joint.

Today, the company produces a humanoid robot series, the Alpha 1S and the Alpha 2, 40-centimetre-tall robots that can be controlled by software app (the 1S) or by voice. The Jimu series is also a programmable robotics kit that features snap-in design parts that children can use to build their own robots.

Working in an emerging field is a challenge because the company must work to reduce prices while teaching consumers about a new product category.

"It's like the drone market, five years ago, when products were available but expensive," Deng says. "We are creating the consumer market for play robots. We educate people to understand what a robot is and what it can do."