1991 Starting from the core

Note: It was indeed after I saw Zhihui Jun’s robotic arm that I dug into my previous pits and discovered that Pandora and Sony have been jointly developing industrial robots for three years. It’s time to reap the rewards.

Note 2: Three chapters have been blocked. In order to prevent more blocks, I hope you can think more about the relevant chapters... Anyway, the core idea is to make friends in advance.

**

“Stepper motors sound so damn good!”

The person who expressed emotion in broken Mandarin was Misha, an expert in applied mathematics from Russia.

Misha wears a full beard to show his power. Although he is less than 30 years old, he looks like an old man.

Misha's full name in Russian is Vladimir Mikhail...Bala Bala... Later he learned Chinese and was shocked by the breadth and depth of the Chinese language, so he insisted on being brothers with Mr. Xi and took Mr. Xi's name. As the last character of his surname, he chose a Chinese name that is both smooth and meaningful and is called Ding Dawei.

Naturally, as a native, he also gave himself a nickname, Hong Qigong - he preferred to have a bite.

Misal has been with Yuanxin for nearly four years and is among the first batch of foreign employees to join Pandora after its internationalization. Now he has independently led a team in Pandora and has his own laboratory specializing in machine learning algorithms. Before Ma Mengqi left, he and Ma Mengqi had been arguing about who was the master of the AI ​​algorithm...

Now that Ma Mengqi has left, Mr. Xi has defaulted not to join the rankings. Other big guys such as Obai and Zhebie have led their teams to Silicon Valley and London to start their own business. The number one person in Pandora AI is naturally Ding Dawei is none other than him.

In fact, the robotic arm in front of me was finally formed thanks to Misha's team.

Where's the fun?

Su Yuanshan walked into the office with a smile and blinked when he looked at the robotic arm.

He noticed that in addition to Misha who was talking in the office, there were also Sony's robotics team members and leader Fujio Matsuda who came for a vacation, as well as postdocs from the Yuanxin Postdoctoral Station, Qi Mingyuan from Beihang University, and others.

As Su Yuanshan approached, everyone stopped laughing, but their faces were full of joy.

Xi Xiaoding stood in the center of the crowd and turned his notebook to Su Yuanshan: It can be programmed, memorized, remotely controlled, and can be loaded with multiple sensors, and can also be rotated 360 degrees...

Su Yuanshan blinked again, looked carefully at the robotic arm, which was about 60 centimeters long, and then carefully counted the number of joints...

This number really surprised him.

Seven axes?

Yes, seven axes. Xi Xiaoding laughed: The main thing is accuracy.

How accurate is it? Su Yuanshan thought for a while, and immediately added: Can it be as accurate as Leonardo da Vinci?

Misha asked: Da Vinci? That surgical robotic arm?

Yeah. Su Yuanshan nodded.

In Japan, industrial robots are developing rapidly, but the direction is still mainly towards assembly line operations to replace manual labor in the future. High-precision controllable robotic arms are developing rapidly in Europe and the United States.

As for domestic... we can only say that in some universities, such as Beihang University, Qi Mingyuan's alma mater, there is a robotics research institute, and it is still led by Academician Zhang.

The Da Vinci in Su Yuan Pass is the current surgical robot in the Lighthouse Country. It is said to be the most advanced in terms of its accuracy and control system.

Don't compare things like that. Even though Misha had a big beard, he still didn't hide the disdain on his face. He touched Fujio Matsuda's shoulder with his arm: Old Xiong, you said so no?

Fujio Matsuda was in his early thirties, not tall, but very energetic. He touched his glasses and smiled shyly: We and Leonardo da Vinci are in two directions. Our Magic hand's main directions are learning, program control, and automation. …”

Matsuda, show me. Misha touched Fujio Matsuda again, and at the same time raised the apple in his hand and took a bite.

Okay. Mr. Shan, let me demonstrate it to you.

Fujio Matsuda walked to the coffee table and took an apple from the fruit bowl. Misha grabbed it and put it under the robotic arm: Come on!

Su Yuanshan was startled when he saw it, and was instantly shocked: Holy crap! Are you going to perform an automatic peeling apple?

Xi Xiaoding laughed: What else?

Everyone laughed again.

It was only then that Su Yuanshan was really shocked, and he immediately realized that the apple in Misha's hand was probably the one he had just demonstrated to Xi Xiaoding.

Su Yuanshan took a deep breath and his mind began to spin rapidly.

He is naturally an amateur when it comes to robotic arms. But it would be a bit too much to say that he doesn't understand it at all - he at least knows that today's seven-axis redundant robotic arms must be at the internationally advanced level as long as they are accurate enough.

Moreover, he had no doubt that Pandora could do it.

You know, this is a three-year cooperation project led by Sony and Yuanxin. And Su Yuanshan also knew that the direction of this project was in the industrial field, that is, in the field of automation and program control.

Of course, because Pandora's strongest capital is AI and algorithms, it is endowed with intelligence, which is also its due specialty.

But if it can automatically peel an apple, then this is no ordinary intelligence...

Sure enough, as Misha fixed the apple and Fujio Matsuda began to set the parameters, Su Yuanshan saw that the 3D model of Apple first appeared on the laptop screen.

automatic?

Yes. We are equipped with three cameras for imaging perception. After giving the spatial coordinates, the robotic arm computing unit automatically models. After the modeling is completed, it will automatically complete the predetermined plan based on the coordinates...

As Fujio Matsuda's voice fell, the stepper motor began to sound again. The robotic arm trembled slightly at first, and then deflected the knife head with great precision and landed on top of the apple.

This step is very complicated because the butt of the apple is concave and it is difficult to judge accurately, but we have preset parameters, and we have a sensor at the end of the cutter head, so it can know the force.

Right under Su Yuanshan's eyes, the robotic arm moved slightly and completely rotated the apple's butt out. Then, it only paused for half a second, and then quickly circled around the apple...

It moved so quickly that when Su Yuanshan came to his senses, there was only a circle of apple peels left on the desk. And a smooth, half-peeled apple.

Fuck! Su Yuanshan couldn't help but his eyes widened.

How is it? Is it a surprise? Xi Xiaoding laughed.

Su Yuanshan took a deep breath.

Yes, I have to say...it is indeed a surprise.

…

In Xi Xiaoding's office, Su Yuanshan listened to a report meeting by the robotic arm team.

Obviously, this robotic arm, temporarily named MH, first of all, has sufficient accuracy - as can be seen from the thickness of the peeled apple peel, its accuracy is at least about 0.1 mm. Secondly, it really lives up to Pandora’s reputation as the “birthplace of black technology”.

Whether it is using cameras for 3D modeling, accuracy compensation through algorithms, visual operation interfaces, and memory functions, these are all patented technologies.

In fact, hundreds of patents have been issued by the robotics team.

We have really been sharpening our swords for three years.

Fujio Matsuda can already speak Chinese fluently, and among the entire team, he is the real core of the design, completing the design from the base to the first two joints.

Of course, Qi Mingyuan also contributed a lot - Qi Mingyuan, who studied under Academician Zhang, can be regarded as the successor of domestic automated robots. In a place like Pandora where geniuses gather, he quickly completed the project with Fujio Matsuda. design, and eventually upgraded the original six-axis to seven-axis.

The reason why MH was able to peel a circle of apples so quickly was basically because Qi Mingyuan solved the technical problem of controlling rotating joints.

Well, yes. Su Yuanshan couldn't help but nodded, smiling happily: First of all, congratulations on completing the project, and we will talk about the rewards later. Let's talk about the follow-up direction first.

Improving accuracy is the eternal pursuit of robotic arms, and it is closely related to speed - well, it also involves the computing speed of the algorithm. Su Yuanshan said while tapping the table with his pen: Especially AI, we Although we have already entered the field of GPUs dedicated to AI training, in low-power scenarios, or to put it more bluntly, in smart robot scenarios, we still need a dedicated AI chip to assist in calculations.

Xi Xiaoding also nodded with deep understanding: How about setting up a project? Use YX architecture?

Yes, the YX architecture itself is used in low-power consumption scenarios.

Then stand down first. Xi Xiaoding glanced at Misha, smiled slightly, and then wrote a few words in his notebook.

Secondly, I think that in addition to the automation field, we must also move into the controllable field. Da Vinci's one is very good - after all, we seem to be unable to achieve automatic surgery for a long time. Su Yuanshan said He paused and smiled: If any of you can handle it, I will immediately run to Stockholm to pull up a banner and ask the Nobel Prize Committee to arrange a prize for mechanical medicine.

Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.

Automated surgery... This is indeed a bit too exaggerated.

Then, the technology that is born can benefit many, many fields.

Su Yuanshan looked at the 3D model of Apple automatically generated on the laptop screen and was filled with emotion.

He never thought that this kind of three-dimensional recognition technology would be born in the robot team...

You know, this is the key to future three-dimensional recognition!

at last……

Su Yuanshan looked back and glanced at everyone: I will contact Sony to establish a robot manufacturing department. You can... promote marketization.

*

*

With brisk steps, Su Yuanshan walked all the way into his office.

Because he just went to visit, Wen Xiaoqian did not follow him, but handled matters in the secretary's office outside. She was a little surprised when she saw Su Yuanshan coming back almost humming.

Is it a real surprise?

Well, what a surprise. Su Yuanshan laughed: These guys have built a high-precision automatic robotic arm. And in the next step, they plan to set up a robot dog team...

The kind of robot dog that can run on the ground?

Yes, multifunctional, the kind from the science fiction world.

... Wen Xiaoqian was speechless for a while.

Su Yuanshan knew that this girl Wen Xiaoqian was not interested in this kind of robot, so he stopped talking and returned directly to his office.

After sitting on the chair, he pondered for a few seconds, turned on the computer, and then opened the document.

It’s time to write an outline of the development of domestic intelligent robots.

*

*

Two days later, Teacher Ma arrived at Yuanxin.

It stands to reason that for a small boss like Ma Yun, Yuanxin has a large number of middle and high-level managers to talk to him on an equal footing. But I couldn’t stand it that Su Yuanshan had his personal phone number, and this time I was accompanied by Qiu Aihua, CEO of Chengdian High-tech...

Therefore, Wen Xiaoqian directly welcomed Teacher Ma and his party into Su Yuanshan's office.

Teacher Ma, Mr. Qiu. Su Yuanshan shook hands with the two of them and led them to sit down in the reception area.

After sitting down, he looked at the two of them with a smile - he knew that Teacher Ma must have come to meet his big boss in person, but he still dragged Qiu Aihua over, which was a bit intriguing.

Qiu Aihua and Ma Yun were classmates. They accompanied Ma Yun to find an Internet center that was still in the development stage to discuss the yellow pages business. As a result, Qiu Aihua was attracted by Su Yuanshan and recommended to Chengdian High-tech.

Now, with the support of Yuanxin, Chengdian Hi-Tech has taken the lead in adopting the solution of exclusive stores + professional after-sales, and has gradually begun to move towards the top spot in the domestic PC market...especially their main focus on low-end brand machines, due to the extensive use of Yuanxin's extremely cost-effective processors make it extremely competitive.

In addition, Chengdian Hi-Tech has also begun to get involved in notebook product lines, as well as printers, scanners and other products. In short... they just learned from Yuanxin and relied on specialty stores all over the country to build a set of PC-based products. system.

Ahem...Mr. Shan. Qiu Aihua coughed lightly and said with a smile: It's been a long time since I visited. I hope it won't be too rude.

Haha, it's not abrupt. I'm just a little busy recently and rarely have time to stay in the office. It's just a coincidence for you. Su Yuanshan said and looked at Ma Yun: Teacher Ma, are you here to sign the contract this time?

Yeah...yes. Ma Yun took a breath. He didn't know why, but when facing Su Yuanshan, he always felt a little bit seen through.

However, even if he was seen through, he would still say it.

Mr. Shan, it's like this. We have discussed it for a long time and feel that... if Yuanxin holds 49%, it will not be very beneficial to our future development.

After Ma Yun finished speaking, she looked at Su Yuanshan and waited for a reply.

Frankly speaking, when Su Yuanshan offered 20 million US dollars to acquire 49% of the shares a week ago, he agreed without even thinking about it.

But Cai Congxin, his most reliable comrade-in-arms, believes that if Yuanxin's conditions are agreed to, AIL's path will become narrower and narrower in the future.