Tech startup: I really do make mobile phones!

Chapter 147 Bionic Motors and Gyroscopes
2 a.m., 2011, Chen Mo's apartment.

The dim, yellowish light from the desk lamp tore through the darkness of the bedroom.

Chen Mo, who was so excited about the system's year-end settlement of research and development points that he couldn't sleep for half the day, sat at his desk in his wrinkled pajamas, showing no signs of fatigue.

He spread out some hastily found letter paper in front of him and picked up a pen at random.

At this moment, all his attention was focused on the futuristic interface deep in his mind—the cutting-edge mobile phone R&D system.

The year-end settlements have just been completed.

Even after the system removed nearly half of the non-compliant mobile phone sales, the settlement figures still made Chen Mo's heart race: 326 million R&D points!
This is a "huge" amount of R&D funding, enough to continue allowing Orange to lead the way in future technology, enough for 326 Level 1 component R&Ds, 32 Level 2 R&Ds, and 3 Level 3 R&Ds.
As for Level 4 R&D, or even the more outrageous Level 5 R&D, Chen Mo thought it best to just wash up and go to sleep; anything is possible in dreams.

More importantly, he understood a core rule of the system: there is no limit to the number of identical parts that can be developed.

The cutting-edge mobile phone battery can be either a gaseous lithium battery or a solar cell.

As long as a component project proposal that can activate the research and development of cutting-edge technologies is put forward, and the appropriate research and development points are allocated, the system can start research and development in that direction.
With the research and development project in hand, his goals were clear.

Without hesitation, Chen Mo turned his attention to the core technology that needed the most improvement at present: gaseous lithium batteries.

Although this technology is quite advanced, its advantages in terms of capacity and size are not significant compared to mainstream liquid lithium batteries on the market.

This is a weakness in the Orange phone's battery capacity, and it must be addressed specifically.

A thought flashes, and the system interface responds:
[System notification: You have invested 10 R&D points to initiate the development of a secondary gaseous lithium battery, with a 100% success rate!]

The research and development process has begun and is being pushed forward at full speed. Please wait patiently.

Time slipped away unconsciously as Chen Mo's pen moved across the paper and as drowsiness crept in.

Half an hour later, just as Chen Mo's eyelids began to droop, a crisp notification sound startled him awake.

[System notification: Development complete! Congratulations on obtaining the iterative solution for secondary gaseous lithium batteries: MOF-honeycomb configuration]

"MOF-honeycomb configuration?" Chen Mo was instantly dumbfounded.

Isn't this the configuration that Professor Jiang casually suggested when we were discussing it?

He said at the time that this configuration could increase capacity by 15% to 18%. Chen Mo was even obsessed with engineering for a while, but he found that he couldn't learn it without a foundation, so he gave up.

Chen Mo quickly realized that the system was connected to the real-world technology tree from May 2010. Professor Jiang's advanced design was actually qualified as a Level 5 black technology solution according to the system's judgment!

"Professor Jiang is amazing. No wonder he's an academician!" Chen Mo couldn't help but whisper.

Professor Jiang's casual swipe resulted in a 15% improvement; that's truly cutting-edge technology.

But that's not enough!
A decisive look flashed in Chen Mo's eyes, and he pressed the button for the development of the three-stage gaseous lithium battery with a fierce mental gesture.

100 million research points were deducted instantly!
[System notification: You have invested 1 million R&D points to initiate the development of a Level 3 gaseous lithium battery, with a 100% success rate!]

The research and development process has begun and is being pushed forward at full speed. Please wait patiently.

"This time it should be something completely new!" Chen Mo thought with anticipation.

Another agonizing half hour of waiting, and the notification sound arrived as expected.

[System notification: Development complete! Congratulations on obtaining the three-stage gaseous lithium battery iterative solution: 3-stage boosting technology.]

"It's done!"

Chen Mo was greatly encouraged and immediately immersed himself in the research of "3-stage supercharging technology".

The core principle is to use compression technology to compress the lithium-based gaseous polymer inside the gaseous lithium battery, thereby achieving a significant leap in capacity without changing the volume and weight.

He quickly listed the key data comparisons on the letter paper:

Commercially available standard liquid lithium battery: ≈ 140 Wh/kg
Primary gaseous lithium battery (MOF configuration): 80 Wh/kg
Secondary gaseous lithium battery (MOF-honeycomb configuration): 92 Wh/kg (approximately 15% improvement)
Three-stage gaseous lithium battery (3-stage boosted MOF-honeycomb configuration):

Level 1 boost: 138 Wh/kg (50% improvement, comparable to mainstream liquid lithium batteries)
Level 2 boost: 172 Wh/kg (25% increase, roughly equivalent to high-energy liquid lithium batteries)
Level 3 boost: 198 Wh/kg (15% improvement, approaching some early solid-state batteries)
Chen Mo's heart raced: Once this three-stage boosting technology is mass-produced, it will be enough to overturn the current mainstream liquid lithium battery market.

But after the initial euphoria, he began a calm technical analysis, quickly outlining the two major technical challenges facing mass production.

The first challenge is the transformation of mass production packaging technology:

The original safe and simple "in-cell solid-state encapsulation charging" process has been transformed into a more complex and riskier "pre-charging in a reactor to generate charged gas -> compression -> injection into the battery" process.

Mass production has led to a sharp increase in safety and equipment costs.

The second challenge is the dramatically increased strength requirements for the internal structure of the battery:

More and more sophisticated MOF-honeycomb structural units are needed to "contain" the compressed charged gas, which has a larger volume than the battery space.

This is directly related to the precision of the etching machine:
1-stage boost: requires 8 honeycomb structures internally -> corresponds to an etching machine with an accuracy of approximately 50 micrometer.

2-stage boost: requires 16 honeycomb structures internally -> corresponds to an etching machine with an accuracy of approximately 10 micrometer.

3-stage boost: requires 32 honeycomb structures internally -> corresponds to an etching machine with an accuracy of approximately 1 micrometer.

"The 10-micron laser etching machine from domestic large-aperture lasers should be sufficient for Level 1 and Level 2 compressed mass production. As for Level 3, it depends on how well we can obtain foreign equipment!"

Chen Mo quickly assessed the current level of domestic equipment and formed a preliminary plan in mind.

"Level 1 and Level 2 compressed gaseous lithium batteries are enough to give Far Orange's batteries a huge market competitiveness, thus eliminating those highly polluting and risky liquid lithium batteries first!"

The technical roadmap for the iterative mass production of three-stage gaseous lithium batteries gradually became clear in his mind.

R&D settlement and planning:

The total investment is 10 points for secondary gaseous lithium batteries and 100 million points for tertiary gaseous lithium batteries, for a total of 110 million points.

Balance: 216 million points.

On the system interface, only Liu Mingzhen's "Solar Cell" proposal remains as a "researchable" project.

Chen Mo's finger hovered for a moment, but ultimately he didn't click.

"Liu Mingzhen's dream is important, but right now we need to prioritize ensuring the core components of Orange 2!"

He just summarized the patterns based on the grade of components in high-tech mobile phones:

Level 1 cutting-edge technology usually has obvious flaws, Level 2 technology starts to catch up, and Level 3 technology shows its advantages.

Therefore, sufficient R&D points must be reserved so that gyroscopes and motors can be guaranteed to be cutting-edge technologies as soon as they are developed, and can be considered as level-three cutting-edge components that surpass mainstream products on the market.

Of course, the vibration motor and gyroscope that will be developed for Orange 2 belong to the field of engineering, and Chen Mo, a straight man with a science background, knows almost nothing about them.

"We must brainstorm!" Chen Mo made up his mind to ask the engineers in the hardware R&D team for a solution tomorrow to see if they could activate the system development prompt.

Then, he picked up the draft letter on the table, which was filled with mind maps, data analysis, and mass production difficulties related to the three-stage gaseous lithium battery compression technology, and went to the bathroom.

The lighter flame shot up, and the paper quickly curled up, charred, and turned to ash, which was then completely washed into the sewer by the water flow, ensuring that no trace was left.

The next day.

Meeting Room 2, Orange Technology.

Although Chen Mo had stayed up all night, he was still in high spirits. After simply changing into a casual suit, he regained his capable image as a tech company boss.

Jiang Yu, the deputy head of the technical department, sat calmly behind him, the faint scar on his left eyebrow looking particularly rugged under the conference room lights.

As Chen Mo requested, he gathered all 12 engineers in the hardware R&D team.

Chen Mo got straight to the point: "Everyone, the development of Orange 2 has entered a critical stage."

The gyroscope and micro motor are the core components of Orange 2's improved user experience. I ask everyone to think outside the box, without being limited by existing technology or mindset, and submit a general design idea for the mechanical gyroscope and micro motor.

I'm giving you three days!

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Yu's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

He originally thought that President Chen had already finalized the R&D and mass production plan through the micro motor factory in the mountain city, but he didn't expect that he was only now starting to solicit internal proposals.
At this point, there were only 90 days left until the prototype of the Orange 2 project was scheduled for production in March!

Time is so tight!

A trace of worry flashed through Jiang Yu's mind, but thinking of the various "miracles" Chen Mo had created in the past, he forcibly suppressed his doubts, habitually touched the scar on his left eyebrow bone, and added to his subordinates in a deep voice: "Did you all hear President Chen's requirements clearly?"

Jiang Yu glanced at the group of engineers in the hardware R&D team before continuing to speak.

"Bring out your boldest ideas, and the proposals must be submitted on time in three days!"

His tone carried an unquestionable command and an endorsement of Chen Mo's decision, lest the new engineers who arrived after October be careless and try to appease General Manager Chen.

Three days later.
Thirteen proposals, including Jiang Yu's own, were neatly arranged on Chen Mo's desk.

Chen Mo quickly flipped through the documents one by one.

Most of the previous proposals were conventional, either patching up existing technologies or proposing theoretically feasible ideas that were extremely difficult to implement in engineering. None of them could touch the system in his mind.

Until he picked up a proposal with a wildly imaginative title: "Design Scheme of Bionic Ant Ant Antenna Gyroscope and Muscle Micro Motor".

The cover design of the proposal is rather simple, and it is signed by Zhou Mingzhe, a young assistant engineer in the hardware group.

He was a member of the 54-person core team, and Jiang Yu had specifically introduced this young man to Chen Mo at the end of the all-staff meeting.

Chen Mo opened the plan and glanced at its core concept.

Highly sensitive, multi-directional sensing structures mimicking ant antennae are used in gyroscopes, while rapid and precise actuation mechanisms mimicking ant muscle fibers are used in micromotors.
moment!

The dormant system deep within his mind suddenly erupted with a clear and strong mechanical prompt.

System prompt:
Ding! A new mobile phone gyroscope research and development plan, "Ant Antenna Bionic Gyroscope," has been detected in your current location. Do you want to invest in the research and development site to start developing this cutting-edge technology?

Please confirm by selecting "Yes/No"】 Almost simultaneously, the second prompt appeared.
System prompt:
Ding! A new mobile phone micro-motor R&D proposal, "Ant Muscle Bionic Micro-Motor," has been detected in your current location. Do you want to invest in the R&D center to start developing this cutting-edge technology?

Please select "Yes/No" to confirm.

Chen Mo's gaze was fixed on the "Bionic Ant" design, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up in a smile.

The cutting-edge technology to be used in Orange 2 is already before him.

Chen Mo's gaze lingered on the signature "Zhou Mingzhe" on the proposal for a moment, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

Without hesitation, he picked up the internal phone on his desk and pressed the "5" key, which represented the technical department, with precise finger movements.

"Jiang Gong, have Zhou Mingzhe from your hardware team come to my office immediately!" Chen Mo's voice came through the receiver, clear and direct.

Jiang Yu, the deputy head of the technical department, calmly replied, "Yes, Mr. Chen!"

He put down the phone and glanced at the honeycomb-style workstations of the hardware R&D team, his gaze landing precisely on the tall, thin figure wearing black-rimmed glasses and a classic red and black plaid shirt.

Zhou Mingzhe was debugging the virtual model of K3V2c on the computer, collecting feedback data while unconsciously hunching his back.

Behind the workstation partition, his habitually hunched figure appeared exceptionally thin.

"Xiao Zhou!"

Jiang Yu's voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to silence the entire hardware team: "President Chen is looking for you. Go there now."

"Shu~"

More than a dozen eyes instantly focused on Zhou Mingzhe.

The proposal had only been submitted for less than a morning when General Manager Chen summoned him for a private meeting, specifically naming him.

What this means is self-evident.

A low murmur of envy, curiosity, and good-natured teasing arose.

"Mingzhe, you're quite something, keeping your abilities hidden!"

"It seems Mr. Chen has taken a liking to your 'Ant' project. Don't forget me when you become rich and powerful!"

"Xiao Zhou, come back and treat us!"

Zhou Mingzhe's cheeks flushed instantly. He awkwardly pushed up his black-rimmed glasses and habitually hunched his back, making him appear even more stooped.

He waved his hands repeatedly, his voice trembling with a hint of uncertainty: "No, no, everyone is too kind. Perhaps... perhaps there's a problem with the plan. Mr. Chen will have to ask about it."

Looking at him like this, Jiang Yu noticed that even the scar on his left eyebrow seemed to have softened. He smiled slightly and urged him encouragingly, "Go quickly! Don't keep President Chen waiting!" His tone was unusually gentle.

Jiang Yu was quite optimistic about Xiao Zhou's future, as Xiao Zhou had been quite reliable since joining the company in early September.

Zhou Mingzhe nodded hastily, as if he had remembered something, and quickly pulled out a draft paper with coffee stains on the edges and filled with hand-drawn schematics from a pile of parts and drawings on the table.

This is a preliminary sketch of the micro-motor concept verification model that he pieced together after sending an email to Professor Xu at 3 a.m. to ask for his advice.

He clutched the draft, which carried his ideals of "technological romance," took a deep breath, straightened his habitually hunched back, and quickly left the Hive workstation area.

After passing through the busy corridor area, three meeting rooms with different nameplates and the doors of three managers' offices, Zhou Mingzhe arrived at the door of the heavy, soundproof general manager's office at the end.

He took another deep breath, tried to stand up straight, and gently knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Chen Mo's voice came from inside.

Zhou Mingzhe pushed open the door and entered.

The sight that came into view made him pause slightly: Chen Mo was not sitting in the boss's chair that symbolized power, but standing in the reception area on one side of the office.

He was skillfully arranging a set of exquisite celadon teaware, with steam rising from the spout of the teapot.

Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the entire space in warmth.

"Little Zhou is here?" Chen Mo looked up, a gentle smile on his face, and waved to him: "Come and sit down!"

Zhou Mingzhe, carrying the crumpled draft schematic diagram, walked over somewhat flattered and carefully sat down on the sofa opposite Chen Mo.

Chen Mo smiled, smoothly poured a cup of clear tea into a celadon cup, and gently pushed it in front of him.

"Don't be nervous, have some tea. Speaking of which," he said casually, "I remember your file says you're 26, two years older than me, right?"

Xiao Zhou quickly took the teacup with both hands. Feeling the warmth on his fingertips, the tension in his heart was strangely dispelled by the gentle atmosphere.

He took a small sip of the fragrant tea, suppressing his surging excitement, and then nodded somewhat apologetically: "Yes, yes, Mr. Chen, I am truly ashamed. Although I am two years older, I don't have any great abilities!"

Chen Mo laughed out loud upon hearing this, his eyes filled with genuine appreciation.

"Haha! You can't say that. I looked at your file. You have an undergraduate degree in bioengineering from the top university in China, but you went to another top university to study a double degree in mechanical and electronic engineering."

My graduation thesis was titled "Electromechanical Signal Conversion Model of Insect Motor Nerves," and it won a provincial innovation award.

That's quite a leap!

He leaned forward slightly, a hint of curiosity in his voice: "Why didn't you continue your in-depth research into biology, but instead switched to mechanical and electronic engineering?"

Zhou Mingzhe's face flushed again. He pushed up his glasses and confessed somewhat embarrassedly.

"Actually, my postgraduate entrance exam score was a bit low. I couldn't meet the cutoff score for the top-ranked biology program at my university, so I had to settle for a less desirable school and choose mechanical and electronic engineering, which I thought had a better 'career prospect' at the time!"

"Ha ha!"

Chen Mo laughed even louder this time, with genuine approval.

"Well done! Brilliantly designed! Otherwise, how could I have obtained such a constructive and creative bionic mechanical solution?"

"A foundation in bioengineering combined with the application of mechatronics—that's the golden combination for cross-disciplinary innovation!"

This undisguised affirmation and relaxed atmosphere completely put Zhou Mingzhe at ease.

He was no longer so reserved, and his eyes lit up. He took the initiative to hand Chen Mo the draft schematic diagram stained with coffee and pencil marks from his pocket.

"Mr. Chen, these are my initial ideas and some hand-drawn verification sketches. I've built models before using some scrap parts, so they seem feasible!"

Chen Mo took the blueprints, his gaze sweeping over the inspired lines and annotations.

Based on the core ideas of the first-level "ant antenna bionic gyroscope" and "ant muscle bionic micro motor" solutions that the system had just completed developing, he was able to work on them.

He instantly grasped the essence of Zhou Mingzhe's sketch and was able to accurately grasp the key points for discussion.

"Are you trying to simulate the linkage sensing mechanism between the scape and flagellum of an ant's antenna through the multi-level vibration sensing structure? The choice of materials and stress distribution in this miniaturized version are key."

"Yes! Mr. Chen, you've hit the nail on the head. I envision using a multilayer composite piezoelectric film to simulate a whip segment, but the structural strength after miniaturization still needs to be verified!"

"The drive unit of the biomimetic muscle bundle, the stacked shape memory alloy sheets you drew here, has enough explosive power, but the response speed and reset accuracy are lacking!"

"This is indeed a challenge, so I considered combining a special polymer as a damping layer and a rapid reset mechanism, inspired by the elastic energy storage of the hind leg coxa muscles of ants."

The two talked more and more deeply about the blueprints, from biological prototypes to engineering implementation, from material properties to signal processing, and their conversation became increasingly congenial.

Chen Mo's rapid understanding of the challenges in materials science and his keen insight into engineering surprised and excited Zhou Mingzhe.

As the conversation got more animated, Zhou Mingzhe's eyes sparkled with a light of "technological romanticism," and he couldn't help but utter the engineer's creed that was hidden deep in his heart.

"Mr. Chen, I've always felt that engineers should be like poets, boldly breaking the seemingly fixed 'grammar' of the laws of physics, using innovation to recombine and write more beautiful technological 'poems'!"

Looking at the pure light in his eyes, Chen Mo smiled and nodded: "Well said! What we Oranges want to write is a subversive poem."

However, when the topic delves into specific biomimetic parameters, especially the neural signal response frequency of ant antennae, the microstructure of muscle fibers, and precise biological models of motor coordination...
Zhou Mingzhe's excited expression was slowly replaced by seriousness. He habitually hunched his back again, his fingers unconsciously tapping his knees.

"Mr. Chen!" He frowned frankly, his eyes behind his black-rimmed glasses filled with helplessness: "To be honest, I've been working on hardware for the past few years since graduation, and I really can't remember many of the details of the ant biology I learned back then!"

The essence of bionics lies in the precise understanding of biological prototypes and the abstract simplification of engineering.

"Without precise biological parameters to support our engineering concepts, it's difficult to truly miniaturize an 'ant' into a mobile phone, and its performance would be greatly reduced!"

He looked up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes: "If possible, perhaps we should consult a real expert!"

"Do you have someone in mind?"

"My mentor, Professor Xu Dechang, is a leading figure in the field of ant science in China and an authority on the research of insect neural-motor coupling mechanisms. He is currently teaching students at a university in Yunnan Province!"

Chen Mo put down his teacup without hesitation, his eyes sharp.

"Alright! Since Professor Xu is the key, let's not delay and set off now. You prepare the relevant materials immediately, and I'll have President Gong book the fastest flight to Yunnan Province!"

"Yes, Mr. Chen!" Zhou Mingzhe perked up and immediately stood up.

Just then, the office door was pushed open with a bang, and a head wearing a white shirt and with slicked-back hair poked in. It was Zhao Tiezhu, the marketing manager.

The kid was grinning and completely ignored the serious atmosphere in the office.

"Brother Chen! Brother Chen!" Zhao Tiezhu squeezed in, his voice booming, "I heard you're going to fly to Yunnan Province, is there something big going on? Can I come with you?"

Chen Mo raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "I'm going to consult an expert, not to play around. What are you going there for?"

"Our company is currently selling Orange 1Q, which is very stable. Plus, with Brother Baiwan and Lin Xiaoxia overseeing the marketing department, nothing will go wrong. Just let me go along to broaden my horizons and learn something new. I promise I won't cause any trouble!"

He patted his chest, showing a shameless determination to follow along.

Chen Mo chuckled: "Then you go and have Sister Gong book three plane tickets right now!"

Seeing the two interacting so casually, Zhou Mingzhe pursed his lips and lowered his head even further, indicating that he hadn't seen anything.

(End of this chapter)