Chapter 250 - 244 Mechanical Arm_1

On September 16th, in Qiongzhou, Lin Ju received a gift from the Aerospace Administration.

It was a palm-sized alloy model of the J-20 jet, seemingly laser-cut, with traces of high-temperature ablative oxidation on the edges. The model was silver-white in color and looked somewhat dirty like it was covered in ashes, but in reality, the discoloration couldn’t be wiped away—it was the original color of the material.

The metal surface was also engraved with the numbers 2201 using a laser, which was clearly the identifier of a prototype aircraft.

The person who delivered the gift said, "This is a model of the J-20B that Chief Designer Yang Wei is giving to you. It was cut from the aircraft’s main beam."

It was only after some explanation that Lin Ju understood that the XW-9 engine of the J-20 had already made its maiden flight. He was puzzled, "Why did they cut the main beam of the test aircraft? Was there a problem with the plane?"

The visitor revealed a bitter smile, "Although the J-20B’s skin was designed to withstand deformation under high temperatures and passed the tests, we forgot that high temperatures were also conducted inside the airframe. After a ten-minute flight at 3.43 Mach, the main beam stretched nearly 70cm, puncturing through the skin.

Even though the aircraft landed safely, the beam suffered irreversible damage and had to be scrapped. The airframe will need to be redesigned, but the XW-9 engine performed very well without any problems."

...

"Please convey my regards to him. I won’t be able to return to Sichuan for a while. I accept the gift, and I really like it."

Lin Ju accepted the gift, calculating in his mind that Ma had probably boarded his flight by now.

It goes without saying that Ma Yilong’s first stop in China was Modu City. He had visited last year as well, but each time he stayed just a few hours and hastily left without seeing a rocket launch by New Yuan.

Moreover, due to changes in the world’s timeline, he didn’t attend the Boao Forum for Asia in Qiongzhou in 2015, one less trip than in the original timeline.

Lin Ju knew that Ma Yilong’s visit to China this time was expected to last about four days. On the 18th and 19th, discussions about Tesla’s production base in China, also known as the future super factory, would take place in Modu City. The last day would be spent in Qiongzhou, watching the super-heavy rocket.

Thinking of Ma’s super factory, Lin Ju couldn’t help feeling reflective.

The greatest impact of Tesla’s super factory on China was on the base wages of local car companies.

In America, the hourly wage for auto factory workers was about 16 US dollars. Considering a four-workday-followed-by-two-off schedule, and an average shift of 11.5 hours, this meant the wage translated to a daily salary of 1140 yuan in China.

Of course, this was not actually feasible. Ma once wanted to set the monthly base salary for the Modu super factory at 8000 yuan, but this was unanimously resisted by local companies. Under immense pressure, it was reduced to 5400 yuan.

After all, purchasing power parity and price conversion variances are factors to consider. For local car companies with an average base salary of 2000 to 3000 yuan, being forced to raise wages in line with Tesla would mean a significant cost increase.

The base salary refers to an 8-hour workday and normal working days; overtime is not included. If workers are earning 5 to 6 thousand yuan, then the large part of their salary comes from overtime. In China, one cannot make good money with just standard working hours.

In fact, overtime is a common phenomenon in companies worldwide, with around 10 hours a day being the norm. The Western workweek of 40 hours or less is just a reform of the standard workweek, with overtime being paid additionally.

At New Yuan, the situation was different. As the company expanded, the base wages offered by Lin Ju for workers started at over 6000 yuan, with a five-day workweek in place—one of the few companies in the country to implement it. There is no overtime on Saturdays and Sundays unless there is an emergency production task, and employees receive additional benefits.

While Modu’s super factory didn’t affect New Yuan, it posed a challenge for Xin’an Automobiles. Unlike the larger parent company, which could rely on its technological lead to make money easily, Xin’an had to consider labor costs for their factories.

However, some of Xin’an’s benefits, influenced by New Yuan’s approach, had already surpassed those of typical auto companies by a large margin. The difference was not significant, and as Xin’an mainly targeted mid-to-high-end markets with higher profit margins, other companies would simply have to fend for themselves...

...

"In 2011, we were already planning the configuration of the space station’s modules. At that time, we referred to this module as ’Experimental Module II,’ managed by the Modu team. It was finalized in 2014 to be called ’Dream Heaven,’ and the cabin design was basically centered around the onboard optical system,"

the specialist from the Fifth Institute involved in the development explained to Lin Ju, as the Dream Heaven and Ask Heaven experimental modules were being mounted onto two battle-hardened New Yuan-2 rockets which were now ready to be capped with the fairing.

"At that time, the module had not been manufactured yet, but since it was determined to be launched by the CZ-5, we designed the maximum diameter to be only 4.2 meters. Now, Dream Heaven’s maximum diameter is 7.2 meters, while the diameter of the fairing is 8 meters.

The launch mass has increased by a full 20 tons, yet, it’s still not enough. The Modu team enlarged the optical system, enhancing the observation capability to more than double the original, and expanded the power supply to 70KW. There was enough space, but the mass has slightly exceeded the limit.

After it is launched, we will need to send up additional interior equipment for installation. By that time, Dream Heaven should attain an operational mass of 56 tons."

Lin Ju asked, "Interior equipment installation? Could that pose any problems?"

"That’s not likely to be an issue; the subsequent interior equipment installations include control elements and computers, not the most delicate optical parts. Moreover, the most crucial fact is that the dock’s opening is still 2.5 meters square, allowing any equipment to pass through with ease. As long as it’s done carefully to avoid collisions, I trust our astronauts."

Lin nodded and continued to admire the massive laboratory module one last time before the fairing was sealed. As the module’s diameter required an 8-meter fairing, 2 meters larger than the New Yuan-2 rocket’s body, the result looked quite impressive.

Collaborating with the Aerospace Administration on building the Ask Heaven and Dream Heaven experimental modules wasn’t just a simple matter of New Yuan making the shells while the Aerospace Administration crammed in their equipment. The knowledge gained from installing equipment in the modules, precautionary and redundancy measures, cable management, and more were invaluable lessons utilized in the production of the March’s axial modules.

Moreover, New Yuan also participated in manufacturing a crucial component: the heavy-duty robotic arm for the Ask Heaven experimental module.

This arm could be used for repositioning modules when docking ports needed to be cleared and could assist in capturing spacecraft or satellites.

For instance, in the future, if large satellites were beyond the repair capabilities of space shuttles, they could be grabbed and stored at the space station for slow repair, as there were fixtures on the module designed to secure external spacecraft.

This robotic arm had a maximum length of 26 meters and could carry a load of 190 tons; it weighed 3.2 tons and was equipped with a first-generation AI control system.

When operated using AI, the robotic arm didn’t need human control. Utilizing its multitude of sensors, it could capture targets autonomously. With a simple command input, the arm could execute tasks precisely.

Although the peak chip technology owned by New Yuan was only at 14nm, the potential of ternary chips for AI applications was gradually being uncovered, and the engineers were becoming increasingly adept at them.