Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1415 Spreading Branches and Leaves (5k)

Ma Juan was also among the personnel who later went to the north for collaborative research. She was a key member of the RTOS team. For various control systems in spacecraft, RTOS was an invaluable asset because it differs slightly from general operating systems and has certain customization requirements.

However, it was clear that she had returned with the main group this time and hadn't stayed in the north for long.

It's clear she doesn't care that her trip to the north was abruptly canceled. She probably just doesn't like the rough bread.

"Did you learn anything?" Gao Zhendong asked with a smile.

"Well... I didn't learn much in my major, but I learned a little bit in other areas," Ma Juan said with a smile.

Gao Zhendong nodded. In terms of her major, Ma Juan really didn't need to learn much from the people at White Bear. Although their math was indeed good, she was now working on RTOS, and her work was basically complete. Moreover, she was going there to work on RTOS applications, so there was nothing for her to learn from others, and she wouldn't be involved with them anyway.

"Well, it's like the polar bears didn't recognize Mount Tai. They didn't want it, and we didn't want to keep it either." Gao Zhendong didn't have any anti-racism tendencies. If his own people were awesome, then they were awesome. He wasn't even bothering to be humble on Ma Juan's behalf.

In this respect, the polar bears are no good at this point, and that's something to admit. They're the kind of team that has many impressive achievements, but also quite a few idiotic plays.

In fact, Gao Zhendong was quite happy about her return. To be honest, if it weren't for the bigger picture, he wouldn't have been willing to send Ma Juan out to help Bai Xiong; his own side also needed this kind of talent.

"It's good that you're back. You're still more used to things at home. But it's been quite cold up north lately. Shall I find you a place to stay?" She said this with a hint of a joke. Ma Juan was naturally not worried about finding a place to stay, as she was a key member of the Third Factory.

Gao Zhendong felt that some places especially needed comrades like Ma Juan to go and help.

"Okay, okay, where to?" Ma Juan was excited, feeling like a brick in the revolution, ready to be moved wherever needed.

The work assigned by Chief Engineer Gao is absolutely exciting.

Her question put Gao Zhendong in a difficult position, wondering where to put it.
For her, Gao Zhendong had two options.

One option is to assign it to the comrades working on rockets to continue working on rocket thrust control.

Secondly, placing her at the Southwest Institute is a good option. With the gradual development of air superiority fighters, flight control should be prioritized, and Ma Juan's expertise in RTOS would be very helpful to the Southwest Institute.

Before this, let alone the Southwest Institute, there was no proper flight control software in the whole country.

Gao Zhendong was in a dilemma. Both sides seemed important, so where should he place this key general?

Ma Juan wasn't in a hurry, but Chief Engineer Gao seemed to be thinking about something. Perhaps he was worried about his own abilities and was still hesitating?
After thinking about it for a long time, Gao Zhendong made up his mind.

"You should go to Rongcheng in the southwest. There's an aircraft research institute there to work on flight control systems! They have a new fighter jet with a completely new flight control system, which is very difficult to implement. It requires an RTOS. You're perfect for that."

Gao Zhendong considered it for a long time. As for the rocket, the current rocket configuration is not the brain-dead design of the White Bear N-1, but a configuration with a relatively small number of engines. Based on this, ordinary RTOS personnel can also handle it, since the actual requirements for multi-tasking and real-time performance are slightly lower.

The situation at the Southwest Institute is different. They relaxed the requirements for static stability, fly-by-wire control, stealth shape, and canard layout. It can be said that in terms of flight control, it is almost entirely new and undisputed.

Moreover, the new technologies are being used in clusters, and there was almost no prior preparation for them.

Although the colleagues at the Southwest Institute are making great strides in aerodynamics, they still lag behind in software.

Especially for flight control systems, which have many parameters, change rapidly, vary greatly, control objects are complex, and the mechanisms are not yet fully understood, the difficulty and variables increase significantly without the participation of experienced personnel with formal software training.

The flight control system deserves to gather all the best and brightest. This first version is definitely the most difficult, but correspondingly, it is also the most worthwhile.

As long as the first version can be successfully used, with the accumulation of data and the enrichment of experience, it will gradually move towards the realm of freedom in flight control systems.

Besides, I just said that it's colder in the north. If we go to work on rockets, won't it still be just as cold? Going back on your word is something no one would do.

Ma Juan was overjoyed to hear Gao Zhendong's words. Hehe, first she got involved in aerospace, and now she can get into aviation. In short, this is awesome!
Moreover, it's a new type of fighter jet, which is very difficult to achieve.

All of this was exactly what Ma Juan wanted; if she was going to do something, she wanted to do the most difficult one!

"Okay, okay. I'll go!" She agreed immediately without even asking any other questions. Although whether she agreed or not didn't actually affect whether she would go or not, her excitement still spoke volumes.

However, after agreeing, she became a little worried: "Chief Engineer Gao, you're not going to transfer me there, are you? Let me make it clear first, I'm fine working there for a while, but I don't want to be transferred away completely."

Gao Zhendong laughed. This young girl is thinking quite far ahead.

"Don't worry, these are talents that our Third Factory has painstakingly trained. We wouldn't even give them to them if they wanted them. Just go and help out. Once the problem is solved, or you've shared the experience and knowledge you need to, come back. There's still a lot to do!"

Gao Zhendong's words seemed to reassure Ma Juan, who, being a somewhat carefree woman, laughed heartily: "Then I'm relieved. Chief Engineer Gao, when are you reporting for duty?"

Gao Zhendong looked up at the calendar on the wall and smiled, "The Spring Festival is just around the corner. Let's rest in Beijing for a while, make some preparations, and go there after the New Year."

Work needs to be done, and the New Year still needs to be celebrated.

Ma Juan laughed heartily: "No need, no need. If there are no special circumstances, I'll go directly there. It won't interfere with my work, and I can spend the New Year there."

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "That won't do. This trip could take years. Let's stay in Beijing for the New Year before we leave."

Ma Juan laughed even harder: "There's no need for that. Work is more important. Besides, I'm not a native of Beijing, so it doesn't matter where I spend the New Year. Fuzhou is still my hometown."

She originally came from out of town to study in Wudaokou, and then stayed in Beijing.

Gao Zhendong felt a little embarrassed upon hearing this. Well, one of his top lieutenants didn't even know where the other man's hometown was.

"Haha, look at my memory, what a coincidence! Well, that's good, you can still go home for the New Year. Let's get the paperwork done as soon as possible and get there as quickly as possible." He chuckled, trying to hide his slight embarrassment, and waved for him to leave.

At the Southwest Institute, the chief designer of the air superiority fighter jet received a phone call.

"Ah, hello, Committee Member Gao..."

"We need it! We absolutely need it!!! Yes, yes, the sooner the better!"

"Really? You're from Rongcheng? That's great! No culture shock, you're ready to fight!"

"Thank you so much, Committee Member Gao! Thank you so much!"

After the phone call, he rushed to the director's office.

"Chief, give me a single dormitory room!"

The director was somewhat puzzled as he watched the chief engineer rush in with a beaming smile.

"A single dormitory? You already have your own house. Besides, you're married, so a single dormitory has nothing to do with you."

The chief engineer shook his head happily: "It's not for me, it's for the experts who came from Beijing."

"Experts? Dormitories?" I was even more confused. Experts stay in guesthouses when they come, and they leave once their business is done. It has nothing to do with me, the director.

The chief engineer shook his head: "It's not what you think. This expert is a permanent resident."

"Standing permanently? Where did this permanent assignment come from? Why?" For an expert to be stationed permanently in Beijing, this must be a significant matter. "Well, Committee Member Gao has transferred a key figure from his Third Factory, a real-time operating system expert, to help us with the flight control system. He can also lend a hand in fire control and other areas."

The applications of RTOS extend far beyond flight control; there are many other places where it can be used.

As a system that needs to process multiple information sources and display rich information, the fire control system will become increasingly reliant on a real-time operating system.

The director immediately perked up and stood up: "Really?"

How could a general personally appointed by Committee Member Gao be anything less than competent?

In fact, Ma Juan's arrival was a real lifesaver for the Southwest Institute. Flight control and fire control systems have very high requirements for RTOS, and it must be a true real-time operating system.

None of the general-purpose operating systems commonly used by people in later generations can be used here.

They are currently struggling with the completely unfamiliar field of real-time operating systems, but unexpectedly, Committee Member Gao, far away in Beijing, had already anticipated the difficulties here and even prepared manpower.

"Really, this comrade is already going through the formalities and will fly over within three days." The chief engineer was overjoyed.

"Within three days? Isn't that a bit too fast?" The director looked somewhat dissatisfied.

"Isn't fast good?" The chief engineer thought the director must have lost his mind.

"You don't understand. The fact that he can fly over in three days means the procedures aren't complicated. If the procedures aren't complicated, it means this person is just here to help. After he's done using him, Committee Member Gao will take him back." The director gave him a look that said, "You're too young."

These days, you absolutely can't finish the transfer procedures in three days. Putting aside everything else, the organizational affiliation, work relationship, food ration, household registration, and job handover take a ton of time. But secondment is much simpler, and sometimes there's no secondment at all; it might just be a long-term assignment.

Seeing the director's expression, the chief engineer was dumbfounded. Seriously, it was already incredibly thoughtful of Committee Member Gao to send reinforcements; you're trying to take the cook with you while you're eating?

"You're overthinking it, Director. Committee Member Gao said this is just a loan to us, and we have to return it. It's very useful to them. Don't expect anything more. By the way, she's a woman, so the institute must take good care of her."

"A woman? She's truly a woman who can hold up half the sky! Don't worry, the station will take good care of her. If anyone bullies her, I'll deal with them first!"

"Alright, I'll leave this to you. I'm off to get busy." The chief engineer turned and ran off.

"Won't we chat a little longer?" the director said with a smile.

"I have to go now, I need to call my colleagues at the Qianshan Qianfei Institute."

"Qianfei Institute?" What does that have to do with that place?
"Yes, they're working on drones over there. As they get more advanced, the need for a real-time operating system is inevitable. Committee Member Gao's idea is to invite a couple of comrades from over there to come and learn together."

As his voice faded into the distance, he disappeared from sight.

Among those working on RTOS, Ma Juan is the most prominent and concrete leader in implementation, but that doesn't mean she's the only one. There are actually quite a few colleagues who have branched out from her research group.

Beijing Automotive Plant also welcomed a colleague who works on RTOS.

"Welcome, welcome! You've come at just the right time! We've been hoping for a professional like you to come and support us." The director of the automobile factory's technical department shook hands warmly with a colleague who was also from the third factory.

How could they not be happy? With the emergence of a series of control systems such as engine control, ABS, traction control, and vehicle stability, the original control system architecture is no longer sustainable. Putting aside everything else, the fact that each system operates independently and cannot form a synergy is a headache for car manufacturers.

Things are getting more and more advanced, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to manage! We can't just fill the cockpit with instruments like airplanes, can we? Otherwise, very few people would be able to drive the car. This is a mess.

They were also considering integration, but the original architecture simply couldn't support it. The integration work was not only making no progress, but also extremely difficult.

The arrival of this RTOS professional greatly alleviated their problems; finally, they had someone to build the framework!

Once the framework is in place, things will be much easier.

"Chief Engineer Gao sent me here to learn from the comrades at the car factory because he thought you might need me. Please feel free to assign me any work you need me to do," the comrade from the Third Factory said with a smile.

"We need it, we really need it..." It seemed like everyone was saying this. "We should learn from you. We will definitely create the best working conditions for you and make sure that no trivial matter holds you back. You just need to focus on one thing—helping us set up the framework of the integrated automotive control system and leaving your knowledge and experience to our colleagues."

These seem to be two separate things?
However, the comrades from the Third Factory did not dwell on this matter, but instead took out a box.

"This is our factory's semiconductor laboratory. The chips were designed and manufactured specifically for you according to Chief Engineer Gao's requirements."

Just come, why bring anything else...?

The head of the technical department was about to say a few polite words when he suddenly realized, "Wait a minute, we absolutely need this. This isn't the time to be polite."

Although I don't know what kind of chip it is, it's definitely a good product. It was specially designed and manufactured by a semiconductor laboratory, which sounds impressive.

"This is the automotive-grade sensor bus interface chip that Chief Engineer Gao and we designed. With this, it will be much easier to connect various sensors to the core controller."

This is actually the spiritual implementation of the CANBus bus commonly used in automobiles later. Although it is different from CANBus, it achieves the same function, which is to use a unified interface to easily, quickly and cost-effectively connect various sensors.

This is the result of Gao Zhendong's further modification of the MIL-STD-1553B, which was based on the military's tribute to it. After all, in terms of the harsh working environment, the 1553B is even worse than the CANBus, so it is perfect for modification.

With the foundation of the earlier 485 chip, this thing is not very difficult to make.

The technical director snatched the box from his hand, opened it, and touched the chip's instruction manual as if it were a precious treasure.

"Oh dear, what can we say? Committee Member Gao has really thought things through." They were also troubled by this issue. The number of various sensors is increasing day by day, and now there are two problems: too many and too complicated. The interfaces of various sensors are all kinds of different and there are quite a lot of them. The wiring harnesses in the car are becoming more and more complicated, and some of the wiring harnesses are simply outrageous.

For example, to ensure the performance of Gray code sensors used for anti-interference, there are many lines, and you have to be very careful to avoid making mistakes. If you make a mistake, it is very troublesome to find the problem. The rule of this thing is that there is no rule, or the rule is somewhat irregular. The general binary transition sequence is from low to high, but this thing is not. It jumps around randomly from left to right and back to front. Inexperienced people simply cannot find where the error is.

Looking at the concise interface wiring diagram in the instruction manual, the colleagues in the technical department almost shed tears. Finally, they could stop being tortured by the sensor interface!
Moreover, the significance of a unified bus goes beyond simply reducing the number of wires; it provides a unified management method for sensor clusters, which is equally important.

Committee Member Gao is such a good person. He provides whatever we need. If we need people, he sends people; if we need components, he makes them.
-
Meanwhile, Gao Zhendong himself was looking at a series of photos at the National Defense Commission.

"These were taken by satellite not long ago; they're photos of a series of new Citibank aircraft. The models are unknown, but they're very important, so I specifically asked you to come and take a look," the chief engineer of the company said to Gao Zhendong.

Gao Zhendong looked at the photo. Although it wasn't very clear, the planes were all quite large and he could vaguely recognize them. It was like someone with nearsightedness might not be able to see a person's face clearly, but they could definitely recognize a familiar face.

These planes were absolutely familiar to Gao Zhendong. To say that he would recognize them even if they were reduced to ashes would be an exaggeration, but he would recognize them even if they were reduced to wreckage.

"You don't know the model number, but I do," Gao Zhendong thought to himself, but he could only think it.

However, the chief engineer was clearly not completely ignorant and could guess something.

"These should all be bombers. People on the other side of the earth really have a lot of ingenious ideas in this regard. But I wonder which one is the XB-70 that our comrades in the north once mentioned."

I've heard of the XB-70, but what it actually looks like is completely unknown in China.

You're quite perceptive. Some of these planes survived, and some didn't. The ones that survived weren't intended for bomber use, but they were originally designed as bomber-related aircraft.

(End of this chapter)