In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 281: Changzheng Machinery Factory's Ambitions Are No Small Matter – Offering 2000 Million Yuan in Business to Themselves
"The chips can't keep up. The data processed by the central data processor of a three-axis CNC system is several times greater than that of a three-axis two-axis CNC milling machine, especially since machining centers need to add more tool magazine functions..."

Du Guowang explained to Xie Wei with a serious expression, and before Xie Wei could speak, he added, "The data processing capability of the chip is only one aspect. Another major problem is the reaction speed of the sensor... Before this, our sensor technology was also very backward, but now..."

Du Guowang paused at this point.

Sensors in a CNC system are key components used to detect and provide feedback on the working status of the entire machine tool. If the detection position is not accurate enough or the response is not sensitive enough, the accuracy of the entire system will be affected.

The principle itself is quite simple: a sensor consists of four parts: a photosensitive element, a conversion element, a conversion circuit, and an auxiliary power supply. However, integrating these four parts into a whole and more accurately and sensitively measuring the actions of each part in the entire working process is not so easy.

"The fighter jet project team is also researching related technologies. Perhaps we could communicate with them?"

Xie Wei thought about it, but he didn't have a good solution either.

The field of optoelectronics is not his forte.

Directly adopting laser sensors is like building something from a high-level perspective; it lacks theoretical support, making it more difficult to implement and potentially causing problems in the research and development process due to fundamental gaps.

"Are fighter jet sensors used in numerical control systems?"

Du Guowang's eyes widened suddenly.

This……

Isn't that such a waste?

"There's nothing wrong with it. As long as those who know don't say anything, who would think of it? Fighter jets have much higher requirements for sensors than CNC systems. If the sensor technology in that project can meet the requirements of CNC systems, we can definitely use it."

Xie Wei didn't even think about it.

He didn't share the mindset of Du Guowang and others: military technology is military technology, and civilian technology is civilian technology. No matter how outdated the military technology was, Du Guowang didn't want to use it in civilian products to avoid leaking military technology secrets.

"Will this work? The fighter jet technology that the school is developing is the most advanced in the country. If the outside world finds out, won't it lead to a leak of the fighter jet technology?"

Du Guowang looked worried.

"Fighter jets require a wider variety of sensors, which are categorized more meticulously within the control system. Numerical control systems, on the other hand, need position detection, displacement detection, and feedback; they simply require faster reaction times and more accurate detection..."

Xie Wei shook his head.

Although they are all called sensors, there are different types of sensors.

"Research on sensors in the optoelectronics field is progressing slowly..."

Upon hearing this, Xie Wei stopped and looked at Du Guowang.

"Although it shouldn't be the case, I think there are serious problems with the school's current funding allocation plan."

Du Guowang's ulterior motives were discovered by Xie Wei, but he showed no embarrassment whatsoever.

Instead, he looked at Xie Wei and told him very seriously, "You don't hold an administrative position, yet you can influence the school's funding allocation; Secretary Liu and Principal Zhang both allocate funds according to your requirements... This is very arbitrary. Allocating funds through projects was indeed a good way to ensure funds were used effectively when funds were insufficient... Now that funds are plentiful, the previous allocation plan is no longer suitable..."

The school's funding all came from Xie Wei's earnings. Whether Liu Debao and Zhang Mingqiu were afraid of taking responsibility or wanted to avoid interfering with the school's project development, the current situation was very wrong.

However, apart from Du Guowang, no one reminded Xie Wei.

Xie Wei fell into deep thought.

"The fact that the person in charge of the school-enterprise cooperation office has been late in arriving is largely due to Principal Li's concern that the person might not get along with you once they arrive."

Du Guowang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Xie Wei reflecting on what he had said.

Currently, there is no strict system in place for the allocation of school funds.

It can be said that the mess left by Li Rui was caused by Xie Wei, but the main reason lies with Xie Wei: he has never shown any clear attitude, and in two years, he has not given the school a clear direction for his research.

Du Guowang didn't urge Xie Wei. He stood aside, took out a cigarette, and silently waited for Xie Wei to think.

Students hurried past from time to time. Some students who knew Du Guowang greeted him, but before they could speak, Du Guowang waved them off, afraid of disturbing Xie Wei's thoughts.

"Uncle Du, I understand."

It took Xie Wei a while to understand Du Guowang's intention.

"It's time to decide on your research direction."

Du Guowang said calmly.

"It's time to make a decision."

Xie Wei nodded.

He originally hoped that the school's majors would be adjusted as the school's projects and research progressed before making a selection.

Du Guowang glanced at him, wanting to ask Xie Wei what major he was planning to study, but swallowed the words back.

"Let's go, I'll go with you to take a look over there..."

When Xie Wei followed Du Guowang to the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, a 212 Jeep drove directly to the front of the school building.

After getting out of the car, Zhao Yan and Fan Zhiyong walked straight towards the school building.

After finding out where Zhang Mingqiu's office was, they quickly arrived at the door of Zhang Mingqiu's office.

"Director Zhao, Director Fan, why didn't you let me know you were coming? I could have picked you up at the station!"

Zhang Mingqiu was slightly taken aback when the two suddenly appeared at the door of his office, but then greeted them with a big smile.

"Principal Zhang, we came uninvited, and we hope you won't mind."

Zhao Yan also said with a smile.

I have to come!
They didn't mean to look down on Harbin Institute of Technology's products because of the factory's status. It was just that Hongguang Machinery Factory sent technicians to Changzheng Machinery Factory to promote their products, but they were rejected. Minister Zheng personally warned them that if this continued, things would get out of hand!
After welcoming the two into his office, Zhang Mingqiu personally brewed tea for them and sat them on the guest sofa before asking, "I didn't know you two had come in person, is that so?"

“The CNC system and related spare parts provided by Harbin Institute of Technology did not meet the factory’s needs… But the factory urgently needs CNC machine tools. Imported ones are too expensive, and even if we had the money, we couldn’t buy them. The school has the technology in this area, so let’s take a look…”

Fan Zhiyong also got straight to the point.

"Furthermore, the telephone switching network used throughout our 062 base is quite outdated, and the numerous units under the 062 base are scattered across the mountains due to terrain reasons. Simply replacing the telephone switching network is not enough; the base hopes that your university can help redesign the entire telephone switching network..."

Zhao Yan added.

The two sides also made their stance clear: the telephone exchange network was fine, even if the capacity was a bit small, it would make communication smoother and allow all the subordinate units of Base 062, which were scattered in various valleys of the Daba Mountains, to be more closely connected.

Before coming here, the two had discussed that they absolutely could not lower their requirements for CNC machine tools in order to cooperate.

Changzheng Machinery Factory wants CNC machine tools for semi-finishing and finishing!

For rough machining, CNC machine tools are less efficient and less costly than ordinary machine tools for batch processing of parts due to rigidity and other issues, unless Harbin Institute of Technology can provide a three-axis machining center with a tool magazine.

The two men's intentions were beyond Zhang Mingqiu's expectations.

He doesn't know much about technology, especially CNC and the like.

"Alright, I'll take you to the metalworking training workshop in the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering."

"Principal Zhang, what brings you here?"

When Zhang Mingqiu brought Zhao Yan and Fan Zhiyong to the training workshop, Xie Wei and Du Guowang were standing in front of a machining center with an 18-tool magazine, listening to Du Guowang explain the problems the machining center was currently facing during its development.

"Xie Wei? What are you doing here?" Zhang Mingqiu was also surprised.

They didn't know Xie Wei's whereabouts every day, but it was an undeniable fact that Xie Wei hadn't been to the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering for a long time.

"These are Director Zhao Yan and Deputy Director Fan Zhiyong of the Changzheng Machinery Factory..."

"From Changzheng Machinery Factory?"

"You're Xie Wei?"

Zhao Yan and Xie Wei asked the question almost simultaneously.

When Zhang Mingqiu called Xie Wei, Zhao Yan was a little stunned. He didn't expect Xie Wei to be so young.

In their minds, Xie Wei had worked as a technician for five years before the college entrance examination and took the exam in the second year after its resumption. He must have been at least in his thirties to have been able to make Harbin Institute of Technology grow so rapidly in just two years.

"Comrade Xie Wei, it seems you have misunderstood us."

Fan Zhiqiang could clearly hear the dissatisfaction in Xie Wei's tone.

Xie Wei looked at him, neither confirming nor denying.

He made no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction.

"The two leaders from Changzheng Factory came to the school to inspect CNC technology."

Fearing that Xie Wei would directly confront the two of them, Zhang Mingqiu hurriedly explained their purpose.

“We did refuse the CNC systems and spare parts assigned by our superiors for modifying ordinary machine tools... The batch of CNC lathe systems that the ministry gave us at the time could only modify the largest lathe, the 6140, with a machining stroke of only 1.5 meters; and the milling machines were also... Although Changzheng Factory had a lot of small ordinary machine tools, it mainly produced heavy-duty machine tools..."

With a smile on his face, Zhao Yan took the initiative to explain why Changzheng Factory had rejected Harbin Institute of Technology's CNC system.

"The modified CNC milling machine doesn't significantly improve our processing capabilities. What Changzheng Factory needs more is a three-axis machining center that can process irregularly shaped structural parts..."

So that’s it!
After hearing the explanation, Xie Wei finally understood why Changzheng Factory had refused.

"Indeed, although our CNC system can control it, the longest ball screw produced by Harbin No. 1 Machinery was less than two meters. If it exceeded two meters, we could not guarantee the accuracy."

Du Guowang nodded.

He also came to understand why the Changzheng Factory refused to use the CNC system developed by the school.

Having a control system alone is not enough; you also need supporting servo motors, ball screws, and so on.

"now what?"

Zhao Yan keenly caught the "before" in Du Guowang's words and couldn't help but feel a little expectant.

Why bother asking higher-ups for foreign exchange approval when domestic products can meet our needs? Why endure the harsh conditions of foreign suppliers?

"We can produce lead screws with a stroke of five meters."

Du Guowang said, "It's not suitable for heavy-duty machine tools with a travel distance of more than 10 meters or gantry machine tools with a travel distance of more than 5 meters."

Zhao Yan couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

At the Changzheng Factory, many heavy-duty lathes have a machining stroke of more than ten meters.

This type of lathe is not used to process rocket and missile shells. Rocket and missile shells are not thick and do not even need to be processed by a lathe. Instead, they are made of a cylindrical frame composed of frame rings and stringers, and the outer skin is riveted to the frame with rivets.

Just like the structure of a lantern.

However, various heavy equipment are indispensable for processing related tooling fixtures and other important supporting components.

What is the maximum travel of a machining center?

Changzheng Factory doesn't have many lathes with a 5-meter travel. Zhao Yan calculated that the factory only has a few, and it's impossible to convert them all into CNC lathes. Orders for two or three machines are ultimately too few.

"X-axis travel 800mm, Y-axis travel 600mm, Z-axis travel 550mm. Since this is for experimental use, we haven't made a larger one... A larger gantry machining center is still under development... This machining center is for experimentation and improvement..."

Du Guowang explained.

"What about accuracy?"

"The machining accuracy can be controlled to 0.05mm, and the repeatability is ±0.02mm..."

Compared to international machining centers, the machining center developed by Harbin Institute of Technology is still significantly less precise.

However, compared to the international level

"Is it ready for mass production?"

"Harbin No.1 Machinery has already started production, and the first batch of machining centers should be in the debugging stage and will be launched soon."

Du Guowang frequently visited Harbin No. 1 Machinery Plant to provide technical guidance and was familiar with the plant's situation.

How many units were produced in the first batch? How long will it take to deliver 40 units?

"..."

Zhang Mingqiu looked at Zhao Yan with suspicion. Shouldn't the delivery date and other details for purchasing CNC machining centers be asked of Harbin No. 1 Machinery Plant, the manufacturer? Why ask the R&D head directly? What does that mean?
Du Guowang and Xie Wei exchanged a glance, clearly both puzzled.

"The 150mm long-range rocket launcher has too many rockets, and the factory's current production capacity is difficult to increase. If a machining center were available to process the engines and external components such as the missile wings, the efficiency would increase by at least two times..."

Xie Wei was speechless.

Did these two have no choice but to purchase processing center supplies from the school in order to secure more rocket production contracts?
With 40 three-axis linkage machining centers, costing nearly 2000 million, it means they want to take on all the processing orders.

"Gentlemen, it's lunchtime now. Let's have a quick meal together. We'll eat first, and this afternoon I'll accompany you to Harbin No. 1 Machinery Plant, how about that?"

Seeing that Xie Wei remained silent, Zhang Mingqiu quickly tried to smooth things over.

The two remained noncommittal.

They declined Zhang Mingqiu's invitation to dinner, and instead invited Zhang Mingqiu, Liu Debao, Du Guowang, and a few others to have dinner at the state-run restaurant outside the school, which had been reassigned to the school's enterprise office.

Principal Zhang treated us to a meal, which was a very simple meal—just whatever was available in the school cafeteria.

Xie Wei did not refuse.

He wanted to know exactly how many rockets the Changzheng Machinery Factory wanted to produce for this order.

"Are they trying to get more orders by using our machining centers?"

On the way to the restaurant, Du Guowang deliberately lagged behind and asked Xie Wei in a low voice.

"probably."

Xie Wei was unsure.

Although the other party's intentions were already very obvious.

Thinking back to the past two days between Jiangbei Machinery Factory and Jiangshan Machinery Factory, which had proactively offered business to him, his expression turned strange.

If word gets out, people might think that to benefit from cooperation with Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), you have to give HIT something first.

(End of this chapter)