WAN to Launch Nationwide Sales of the "Digihaco Programming Car" Within the Year

World Area Networks Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Hiroshima City; CEO: Ayumu Mitani; "WAN") will begin nationwide sales through its official website, within 2025, of the "Digihaco Programming Car," a programming kit that lets parents and children intuitively learn together "how self-driving works by seeing it, building it, and making it move."

Digihaco Programming Car official website

Making things that touch the heart, starting at your desk

The "Digihaco Programming Car" was designed around a continuous sequence of experiences: it begins with the joy of assembling by hand laser-cut MDF parts, continues as you connect the wiring and sensors yourself, and ends when a single line of your program turns into motion.
By naturally linking the different elements of "building a car," "making it move," and "writing a program," it lets both children and parents step through the "entrance to learning" without getting lost. In addition, hands-on programming in the BASIC language lets users explore the underlying structure of "why it moves" and "how it moves." We believe these small "discoveries" are the key to opening up the future.

Product concept

The "Digihaco Programming Car" has been developed as a car-shaped learning kit that lets parents and children have fun learning the basics of making things and programming together.
It combines a body kit made of laser-cut MDF, whose parts you remove and assemble yourself like a plastic model kit, with a microcontroller (IchigoJam) and a module set.

After assembly, the car comes with a preset program, so it can be driven right away. Users can also take on challenges such as "programming the car to drive itself." A key feature is that making things and programming can be learned as one.

Awards and selections

• 30th Hiroshima Venture Grant (General Category): "Silver Prize" The product was selected for the Silver Prize in recognition of the seamless, end-to-end learning it offers, from "assembly → wiring → programming → the self-driving experience," and of its potential to grow as an "education × manufacturing" business that can expand from the region to the whole country. The ingenuity of its mass-production design and a structure that is easy to use in a wide range of learning settings, such as schools and workshops, were also highly rated.
• 19th Hiroshima Good Design Award The product received an Encouragement Prize for its experience design of "learning by seeing, building, and making it move." The judges praised how design and learning connect naturally, including the press-fit MDF structure, safety-conscious design, tidy internal wiring, and simple self-driving using movable front wheels and a distance sensor. Another reason for the award was that, as a learning kit that creates an "opportunity to learn" through which children can enjoy exploring how self-driving works, it embodies the spirit of Hiroshima craftsmanship. "Digihaco Programming Car" wins the 19th Hiroshima Good Design Award

How to purchase

Online sales through the official website will begin within 2025.
*Inquiries from schools and organizations about introducing the kit are also accepted through the website.

Digihaco Programming Car official website

The future envisioned by the Digihaco Programming Car

WAN's mission is "Shaping the future through creation and challenge," and through this business we aim to create new educational experiences that connect "hands-on learning" with "digital technology." The "Digihaco Programming Car" is one of these initiatives. We developed it as a learning kit that nurtures interest in making things and logical thinking, as children assemble it with their own hands, make it move, and understand how it works. Our goal is to create places, from Hiroshima to the whole country, where everyone can engage with learning with peace of mind, and to grow this into an educational infrastructure that nurtures the next generation.

Contact for inquiries

Company: World Area Networks Co., Ltd.
Contact person: Maina Miho, Marketing Director
Address: The Garden Place Kamiyacho 5F, 2-2-13 Otemachi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture
Inquiries: https://wan-hiroshima.jp/contact/