Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 180 Special Items Newly Born from the Industrial Emperor

Zhai Da hesitated for a moment and said, "Brother Wu, isn't this inappropriate?"

While fastening his belt, Wu Qiang said, "What's inappropriate about it? We're all grown men."

"Would your sister-in-law agree?"

"Your sister-in-law is so nosy? She thinks she can tell me what to do with my pants in front of men? Wait, I feel like there's something behind your words."

"Oh, no, that's just your imagination."

After Wu Qiang explained it to Zhai Da in a few words, Zhai Da finally understood what was going on.

Wu Qiang was wearing pants because he was taking a nap; he has a habit of not being able to sleep without being completely naked.

Wu's wife is much more capable than him, a technician. She's also from Harbin Institute of Technology, but she's a full-fledged researcher with a doctoral degree. She's a backbone member of Harbin Institute of Technology and a typical example of women holding up half the sky.

Zhai Da interrupted, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. So how did you two get together?"

Wu Ge pursed his lips: "We've been friends since we were kids, and our families have been like brothers since our grandfathers' generation. We started dating before she even graduated from university, but that's not the point."

The main point is that my sister-in-law works in a project team, and today she had a workpiece requirement, so she brought a few of her younger colleagues to the Industrial Innovation Center.

As a result, Wu Qiang couldn't handle it and felt a bit stuck. He spent the whole morning working on it in the CNC machining center but still couldn't get it right. He just wanted to call Zhai Da for help.

Losing face in front of my wife is nothing, but losing face in front of my wife's colleagues is unbearable.

"Where is your sister-in-law?"

Wu Qiang gritted his teeth and said, "I'm going to the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering to find Old Wang."

Zhai Da didn't bother asking who Lao Wang was, but he guessed he was a character with high attack power, and he was afraid Wu Qiang would get angry.

Wu Qiang complained, "It's still because our equipment is no good. We can't handle the five-axis CNC. There are two complex curved surfaces. The School of Mechanical Engineering doesn't have an imported seven-axis CNC machine. They urgently need it, so they went there."

CNC, commonly known as numerical control machine tool, is an abbreviation for computer, number, and control.

The "industrial mother machine" that netizens on Tieba and Zhihu often talk about is actually this kind of thing in a narrow sense, rather than some mysterious "omnipotent machine".
Is it important? Of course it is, but not to the extent that parts wrapped in oil paper in sewers are important. Anyway, it doesn't affect rocket launches, the blooming of Malan flowers, or fighter jets taking to the skies.

It's not very big. About the size of a car, some are even smaller.

Simply put, it refers to computer-controlled, automated, and integrated turning machines, which have been the mainstream of precision manufacturing in recent decades. It belongs to the category of material reduction manufacturing, which is to cut a piece of "iron" into the required shape.

Zhai Da's previous experience with metal 3D printing was additive manufacturing, which involves piling materials together like toothpaste. It's a relatively new technology, while CNC machining is much more mature.

The so-called "number of axes" can be narrowly understood as the number of directions in which the "turning tool edge" can rotate, also known as the degrees of freedom. The higher the number of axes, the more flexible the tool edge, and the more complex the structure can be made.

It's not that a seven-axis system has seven blades, a five-axis system has five blades, or a three-axis system is Roronoa Zorro.

Moreover, the number of axes only affects the upper limit of complexity, while accuracy is another dimension, so one cannot generalize from a single instance.

Wu Qiang's wife led a team to work on a special workpiece with a complex curved surface. Ping Zhang Da Sheng wanted to show off, so he spent the whole morning working on it. The machine was almost smoking, but he still couldn't get it right. In the end, his wife got angry, so he wanted to call Zhai Da to come and save the day. That's basically what happened.

Zhai Da thought that since Wu Qiang's wife would come looking for him, this thing should not be beyond the capabilities of a five-axis CNC machine. It was more likely that Wu Qiang himself had messed up.

There are techniques involved in using CNC effectively.

Wu Qiang found a metal workpiece, his expression somewhat complicated.

It's a twisted fan blade, or more accurately, a single blade, but it's very thick, with an aspect ratio of 5:1.

The surface has irregular and complex grooves. If you look closely, you will find that due to the thickness, the entire outline also has its own curved structure.

There were five of almost identical items on the table.

"There's a complex curved surface that just won't work no matter what I do, that's all there is to it."

After taking a look, Zhai Da quickly realized that the problem was with one side of the piece, making each of the five pieces look different. The other parts, however, were quite standard.

It looks exactly like a blade. I can't think of any other use for this structure. It's either stirring up the wind or stirring up the water.

He asked in confusion, "What's this for? An engine propeller? But it can't be this small."

It's only slightly larger than a household electric fan.

Wu Qiang waved his hand: "Can you ask the Industrial Innovation Center to make engine propellers? Those are all classified projects, but I didn't ask for the specifics. My wife is very tight-lipped and never talks about things at the institute. In her words, we should be careful whether it's 'secret' or not, in order to better protect the secrets."

Zhai Da became interested: "Are the CAD parameters still in the device? Let me check?"

"Can you do it?"

"If I can't do it, why did you call me here?"

"I was in a bad mood at the time, and I felt like my wife's graduate students were laughing at me. My sister-in-law is very concerned about saving face."

Zhai Daxin thought to himself, "You're the one who cares most about saving face, aren't you?"

Your sister-in-law is so concerned about her image, how could she have stayed with you for so long? Why didn't you leave her sooner?

"I'm already here, might as well give it a try? There are only five of them, I'll pick one and see if any of them are usable."

He was quite interested.

To make a simple comparison, if we forcibly compare the degree of freedom of human hands with that of CNC machine tools...

The human hand (fingers, palms, wrists, arms, and shoulders) has 27 axes.

Suddenly, words from his grandfather's notebook flashed through Zhai Da's mind:
“In many advanced engineering projects, the components are ‘heterogeneous’ or ‘specialized’, requiring high precision but very few in number, sometimes only for verification. These projects should not be limited by ‘mature technology’ because they are inherently pursuing ‘breakthroughs’.”

"It would be too costly to reverse engineer a single part using mature processing equipment."

"Therefore, a pair of steady hands will never be eliminated, and solid basic skills will not let down every hard-working person."

To be precise, in the context of strict technological blockade over the past few decades, there have still been breakthroughs.

It was broken by the hands of countless 27-axis hands.

Stop asking about "industrial mother machines" from now on; we have plenty of "industrial emperors" at home.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Father? Father!!!"

Zhai Da listened to the voice on his phone, feeling dazed.
crossed?
Why are you crying out so pitifully? Has the Third Prince rebelled?

"Who is this?" Wu Yue wailed, "Who is this? You finally answered the phone! What do you want?"

When Zhai Da looked up, it was already dark outside the Industrial Innovation Center.
"I was busy just now, but why did you call me Father?"

"You didn't answer the phone or reply to my texts. I called you from brother to grandson, and from grandson to father, and you finally answered!"

Zhai Da:
This inverse.

"Where are you now?"

"I've already paid ten yuan for parking downstairs at Shenzhou Zundi. Where am I? I can't get in touch with Lu Wei either. If you don't pick me up soon, I'm going to book a hotel."

"Coming right away, wait for me for fifteen minutes."

After hanging up the phone, Zhai Da looked up and saw that Wu Qiang was gone.

So Zhai Da placed the three pieces of workpiece that he thought he had successfully salvaged on his office desk, left a note, and told him to check them himself when he had time.

He felt it was alright. Curved surfaces were a key project for Xu Xuejun before, and the "graduation assessment" was about curved surfaces.

After leaving the Industrial Innovation Center, Zhai Da walked through the main gate back to Shenzhou Zundi.

In the underground parking lot, a dusty Iveco van was parked at the elevator entrance. Wu Yue jumped out and complained, "I thought you'd already run away after causing trouble in Harbin just half a month ago."

Zhai Da felt guilty, mainly because there was also his unfamiliar cousin Wu Yue: "Sorry, sorry. What's wrong with your car?"

Zhai Da looked at the rows of "portraits" pasted on the Iveco van.

They are the faces and contact information of children.

Wu Yue stretched and said, "Some people at the service area bought us water and watermelon in exchange for putting up missing person posters in the car. I thought it was a good deal, so I agreed."

Zhai Da gave a thumbs up: "You didn't let your father down."

Wu Yue's cousin was a lean man under thirty years old named Wang Xiaolong. He had a buzz cut and looked like he had a story to tell. He curiously looked at this "top scholar from the same hometown" and wondered why his cousin would travel thousands of miles to find him.

Along the way, his perception of Wu and Yue underwent a complete transformation, and he came to believe that his cousin was a man of great ability.

This journey can be described as a Chinese version of a "road movie," with many hilarious and absurd events occurring.

The Iveco van was filled with all sorts of things, mostly belonging to Zhai Da and Lu Wei, such as several thick quilts and a sturdy old bicycle that took up a lot of space. Everything was well-preserved. On the other hand, Wu Yue and Wang Xiaolong had very few things, each with only a suitcase.

Wu Yue is quite reliable and completed the escort mission very well. This cartload of goods is very important; there are seven or eight kinds of equipment alone.

Wu Yue stopped arguing and said wearily, "Let's move the things quickly, I'm too tired, I want to take a shower."

About a week ago, after telling Zhai Da that he planned to stay in Harbin for a while, Zhai Da helped him look for a place to rent. In the end, he settled on Shenzhou Zundi Community, but it was a small apartment in another building, about 60 square meters.

The rent is only 1300.

If Wu Yue does decide to stay and live there permanently, this area has both subway access and shopping districts nearby. Even if she doesn't go to Harbin Institute of Technology, it's still a rare good location in the city center.

Anyway, Wu Yue isn't short of money.

The three of them were quite strong and fast, and most of their belongings were moved into Zhai Da's home in 1501. Lu Wei helped with the tidying up.

When Xiao Mutou saw his mother's dressing table, his eyes were filled with surprise.

Not only the dressing table, but many other items that were auctioned off at the time were also brought here.

Zhai Da took Wu Yue to his house, let the two of them take a shower and rest first, and then returned to 1501.

What comes into view are many familiar things.

A home should still feel like a home; familiar people and familiar things are indispensable.

Lu Wei was carefully wiping everything. It was already a miracle that nothing had been damaged during the bumpy ride, but there was still some dust.

Zhai Da remembered something and asked Lu Wei, "By the way, have you seen a light bulb?"

When he got the [Mini Rubik's Cube] from Lu Tao before, he had figured out a synthesis path that he would need to use.

Lu Wei rummaged around for a while, then held up an object and said, "Is this it?"

No, that was the desk lamp in Zhai Da's room in Sanmao Community.

Zhai Da and Lu Wei used to study quietly in their crowded room countless nights, with this desk lamp providing all the lighting.

After all, turning on the "inextinguishable light bulb" is the same as turning it off; the brightness is too low.

Zhai Da shook his head and said, "It's a separate light bulb. Speaking of which, why did Wu Yue bring this along? He must have taken the wrong one."

He already had this thing before his rebirth. It was probably bought by Yu Xiaoli during his junior high school years in the original timeline. It was a so-called "eye-protecting lamp." He was a bit cheated, as it cost him more than 400 yuan.

That was over 400 in 03-04.

Zhai Da believes there's no need to bring it; it can stay in the Sanmao neighborhood.

Lu Wei shook her head: "It's good to have it; it makes me feel more at ease."

In that dimly lit little room, many scenes and memories are associated with this desk lamp.

She gently brushed away the dust with her delicate hands, showing great care.

As they were talking, a zigzag line suddenly appeared in Zhai Da's field of vision.

It's not the kind of broken line that suddenly appears because you "see" it, but a straight line that grows and spreads gradually from nothing.

It seems to be undergoing some kind of change.

"Congratulations, host. A special white item has been discovered: the Reassurance Desk Lamp. It has witnessed the hard work of the young boy and girl and their remarkable turnaround in life."

Ownership: Owned, activated.

"Equipment effect: +5% concentration under light, increases the probability of developing feelings when used by two people."

Note 1: Please use with caution. Feelings can arise regardless of gender or age. Anyone can do it.

"Note 2: Yes, your thoughts are still thoughts, although you are not the dominant factor in this [equipment]."

Zhai Da's eyes widened.
No, it's not about myself, but about my and Lu Wei's "thoughts"...
Did this create a "special item"?
　A little earlier than yesterday, I'll try to be even earlier tomorrow.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)