Chapter 23

Lin Qiangsheng led everyone on a tour of the new factory building, then visited the car body manufacturing workshop.

Now, the sheet metal workers, including Wang Daming and others, were divided into five groups, each working on a car body, hammering away at the rough car bodies with small hammers.

Listening to the dense sound of the hammers striking the steel plates, the teachers and students were amazed.

"Originally, the Red Flag was made like this!" An Yong whispered in the group.

Lin Qiangsheng, with his keen hearing, heard this and turned to look at the middle-aged man who spoke, smiling, "Yes, we are retracing the path of the Red Flag. However, I want to overtake others by a different route, so I invited you all here."

An Yong stepped out of the group, looked at the workers hammering, then at Lin Qiangsheng, and asked in surprise, "You want to achieve factory automation?!" His impression of the young man instantly improved.

Lin Qiangsheng rubbed his ears; the sound of the hammers striking the sheet metal was very uncomfortable for him.

He gestured to the teachers and students, leading everyone out of the car body manufacturing workshop.

"I didn't expect car manufacturing to be like this, it's so impressive!" someone exclaimed.

"Yes! Five or six people working around a car body, gradually shaping it with hammers, we used to do it this way too! The predecessors back then really worked hard!" another student said.

Lin Qiangsheng glanced at the student who spoke, noticing he was in his thirties, another older student. He thought to himself, there's actually a colleague here for a visit!

He asked Li Guoxian, "Is this person also in your major?"

Li Guoxian looked and then shook his head, saying, "He's not in our electrical measurement major, but in mechanical engineering. He heard we were visiting your factory today and came along specially."

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "In the future, only those in your major are allowed to come!"

Li Guoxian asked in surprise, "Why?"

Lin Qiangsheng shook his head and said, "No reason!"

"Also, what's this electrical measurement major? What is electrical measurement?" Lin Qiangsheng asked, puzzled.

"Uh, it covers everything related to electronics," Li Guoxian explained.

Lin Qiangsheng nodded, thinking the term was probably outdated and not used much in his previous life, so he had no memory of it.

This group returned to the factory gate, and most of the students ran to the grassy field outside. Lin Qiangsheng then led the teachers into the mold workshop.

Li Guoxian and two other teachers watched with great interest as Chen Bing and Zou Xue and others made sand molds.

After a while, Lin Qiangsheng handed Li Guoxian a drawing.

"This drawing is only for the three of you to see, don't show it to anyone else!" Lin Qiangsheng said.

Li Guoxian took the paper in surprise. The drawing, about the size of a panel, was sketched with colored pens, depicting a mechanical arm.

The lines and colors were very well done, and although it wasn't real, it was vividly drawn.

"Oh?" Li Guoxian was even more surprised. He quickly walked to the table, placed the drawing on it, and the other two teachers also came to look.

"Is this a robotic arm from which country?" a teacher in his forties asked in surprise.

Li Guoxian also asked Lin Qiangsheng urgently, "Comrade, where did you see this? Do you have the original drawing?"

Lin Qiangsheng shook his head and smiled, "Teachers, there's no need to be surprised. This is a sketch from my imagination. Do you think such a mechanical arm can be realized now?"

Li Guoxian and the other two teachers looked at Lin Qiangsheng in surprise, then carefully examined the drawing.

One of the teachers asked in amazement, "How did you determine that the mechanical arm would look like this?"

Lin Qiangsheng asked him curiously, "Is there any other way a mechanical arm could look? Doesn't it look like a hand?"

Li Guoxian waved his hand, patted the drawing, and said excitedly, "I feel that the industrial robotic arms abroad look like this! Before, we only heard that foreign robots were multi-joint devices, but we never saw a photo. This drawing by the comrade specifically describes the structure of the device! It's very good, it gives us a clear direction!"

The teacher in his fifties also slapped the table hard and said happily, "Yes, this is a multi-joint, fully electrically driven, truly multi-electronic processor-controlled industrial robotic arm! It completely matches the vague descriptions we have! Foreign robots should look like this!"

The three of them became more and more engrossed, and after more than an hour of study, Li Guoxian said regretfully, "We can be sure that this thing must have sensors and be operated with a microcomputer program. In this area, our research is lagging behind!"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "Yes, I think industrial robots should be equipped with visual, tactile, and force sensors. This way, they can automatically adjust data in actual production. They should also be controlled by pre-programmed data to control the robot's actions."

The three teachers nodded, and Li Guoxian, who couldn't put the drawing down, asked Lin Qiangsheng, "Can we borrow this drawing to study it?"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and nodded, saying, "Sure, just don't let others take it or show it to unrelated people!"

The three were overjoyed. Li Guoxian nodded, carefully rolled up the drawing, and put it in his leather bag, which was quite long.

Lin Qiangsheng asked the three teachers, "Currently, what stage has the development of industrial robots in our country reached? How long do you think it will take for us to develop and put the equipment into production?"

The three teachers looked at each other and said regretfully, "We can't say for sure. Currently, our related research is just starting, and we can only achieve semi-mechanical automation with manual adjustments. In terms of electronics, we have no research in this area!"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and made a gesture of tightening a screw, asking Li Guoxian, "You mean, only manual adjustments?"

Li Guoxian sighed regretfully and said, "Yes! Currently, we can only achieve manual adjustments."

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and smiled, "That's fine. We have to take it step by step. Being able to achieve continuous production with manual adjustments is a significant improvement. It greatly enhances efficiency and safety compared to manual operations!"

The teachers all nodded, and Lin Qiangsheng saw them out of the workshop. The three teachers then went to the factory manager's office.

After a discussion, the teachers listed some equipment and materials. Chang Yuanting took on the task, saying, "Don't worry, I'll go to the industrial bureau to get the materials."

Li Guoxian smiled and nodded, rubbing his hands and saying, "No problem, no problem, a few fewer chips is fine, as long as we can get some!"

Lin Qiangsheng glanced at the list on the paper.

Good grief!

100 4004 chips from 1971, 100 D8008 chips from 1972, 50 8080 chips from 1974, 50 Zilog Z-80 chips compatible with 8080, and 50 AMD/AM2900 chips from 1975.

He stared at Li Guoxian with wide eyes, marveling: No wonder the domestic electronics industry is developing slowly. With such a small quantity of processors, the foreign comrades must be working very hard to get them!

This was precisely the period when the CoCom was at its most aggressive, and many advanced technologies, equipment parts, materials, and production processes from abroad were prohibited from being traded with our country! Among these were the electronic processors that would revolutionize industrial production!

Li Guoxian must have taken this opportunity to report all his experimental needs to the higher-ups.