Live Stream 1980: Netizens Teach Me How to Make a Rocket by Hand

Lin Xi pointed to the scrolling code on the screen, her voice steady:

"Toshiba's servo drive parameters are specifically designed for heavy and soft steel bearings."

"Now we've replaced it with a lightweight and rigid ceramic bearing."

Li Jianguo, after all, was a top-tier, level-eight worker; his mind worked extremely quickly.

"You mean, the moment of inertia has changed?"

"right."

Lin Xi nodded.

"Ceramic bearings are lightweight, which reduces the overall rotational inertia of the spindle."

"But it has high hardness, which increases the system's rigidity."

"The underlying servo motor is still pushed with the force required to push the steel bearing. If the force is too great, it will cause overcompensation at the micro level."

"It's like someone who's used to pushing heavy carts suddenly being asked to push an empty one. They can't control their strength, and the cart will wobble back and forth."

Lin Xi placed both hands on the keyboard.

"This overcompensation, at a high speed of 20,000 revolutions per minute, becomes a high-frequency 'death resonance'."

"This is reflected on the parts as vibration marks."

Zhao Qiang remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he managed to utter a sentence:

"So while we're still disassembling the spindle, you've already disassembled the very core of the brain."

The live stream chat was instantly flooded with comments.

[Haha, Engineer Zhao has figured it out!]

[The ultimate goal of mechanics is algorithms; a memorable scene today.]

[Toshiba: I blocked the lubricant. Anchor: Sorry, I also destroyed the control logic.]

Lin Xi didn't say anything more.

"Da da da..."

The crisp sound of the keyboard was particularly clear in the quiet workshop.

With guidance from viewers in the live stream, a long string of low-level CNC code was retrieved.

What seemed like an incomprehensible hexadecimal parameter to others was quickly modified and overwritten under Lin Xi's fingertips.

The integral gain was reduced, the derivative time was increased, and a completely new S-shaped flexible curve control logic was written.

The control method of Bagua OS, which was originally designed for steel bearings, was forcibly modified by Lin Xi into a new version adapted for ceramic bearings.

A few minutes later.

Lin Xi pressed the last Enter key.

"save."

"Restart the system."

The console screen flickered briefly and then lit up again.

Lin Xi stood up and looked at Li Jianguo and Zhao Qiang:

"Master, bring me some fresh ingredients."

Li Jianguo took a deep breath, personally installed a brand-new aviation aluminum alloy blank, and locked the chuck.

Lin Xi walked to the control panel, her right hand hovering above the green start button.

He paused for a second, then pressed down hard.

The testing machine was started for the third time.

Coolant gushed out.

This time, the machine tool did not emit any harsh whistling sounds.

The spindle speed soared to 10,000 RPM, then 15,000 RPM, and finally stopped steadily at the limit speed of 20,000 RPM!

Inside the workshop, the only sound was the extremely steady and low-pitched buzzing of the spindle as it rotated at high speed.

Under the control of the new algorithm, there are no sparks and no vibrations the moment the tool comes into contact with the alloy.

The milling cutter cut into a piece of soft tofu as if it were cutting into it, and silvery-gray metal shavings rolled out smoothly like flowing water.

The five axes X, Y, Z, A, and C move in perfect synchronization under the precise scheduling of the Bagua OS.

Every head swing and every inch of feed is precise down to the micrometer level.

Fifteen minutes later.

Once the cutting is complete, the machine tool stops running, and the safety door slowly slides open.

Li Jianguo quickly stepped forward and carefully wiped away the surface coolant with a dry cloth.

A miniature propeller test model with an extremely complex structure and seven huge angled blades lies quietly in the chuck.

The surface of the blades refracted a cold luster under the shadowless lamp.

No coordinate measuring machine is needed; you can see with the naked eye that it is an absolute mirror.

There wasn't a single slash mark, not a trace of knife bite.

The streamlined curved surface is as perfect as a work of art.

"It's done..."

Li Jianguo's hand hovered in mid-air, he didn't even dare to touch it, and his voice trembled violently.

"We've achieved a precision down to the micrometer level for 20,000 revolutions... the dynamic rigidity of our spindle is now firmly established!"

Zhao Qiang lunged forward and hugged the spindle box casing tightly, tears welling up in his eyes:

"True five-axis!"

"The precision in both no-load and high-speed aluminum milling is absolutely top-notch!"

"Once we switch the parameters back to low-speed, high-torque mode tomorrow, the titanium alloy propeller will be nothing but tofu in its presence!"

The workshop erupted in cheers that seemed to lift the roof off.

The technicians hugged each other tightly; some laughed loudly, while others wailed and cried.

The pent-up frustration caused by the long-standing technological blockade by the West was utterly shattered at this moment, along with the complete proof of the rigidity of the main axis.

The live stream chat was scrolling rapidly.

Holy crap! This is intense! The trajectory of that blade is chilling!

[This computing power, this interconnectivity—back in 85, it was absolutely alien technology!]

[I cried. This is the jewel in the crown of industry!]

Lin Xi stood aside, watching the ecstatic crowd, and let out a long breath.

Just then, a muffled "bang" sound faintly came from the thick ventilation ducts of the constant temperature workshop.

Lin Xi paused for a moment, then raised her wrist to look at her watch.

February 19, 1985, 10:30 p.m.

It was only then that everyone seemed to suddenly come to their senses.

During this time, they stayed underground day and night, completely forgetting about life outside.

The sound coming through the ventilation ducts wasn't a malfunction; it was from firecrackers being set off on the ground.

Today is Lunar New Year's Eve.

......

Before the cheers in the workshop had even subsided, Lin Xi had already returned to the control panel.

He didn't turn off his phone.

Zhao Qiang was wiping away tears and hugging the technician when he caught a glimpse of Lin Xi's actions out of the corner of his eye and froze:

What are you doing?

"Aren't you going to take a break?"

Lin Xi wiped her face, her hand still trembling slightly as she gripped the rag, but her eyes shone with an alarming brightness.

"Brother Zhao, the propeller impeller we just tested only had the ability to perform continuous interpolation on curved surfaces."

He turned around and looked at Li Jianguo and several experienced workers who had gathered around him.

Today is New Year's Eve.

"I want to show everyone something different."

"Consider this a New Year's greeting to the aerospace workers of Red Star, and to these veteran craftsmen."

Li Jianguo frowned immediately.

"What mischief are you up to now, you little rascal?"

"The machine has just stabilized, don't mess with it. If you really break it down, I'll give you a piece of my mind."

Lin Xi didn't rush to explain.

He retrieved a new file on the CNC terminal of Bagua OS.

The screen lit up, and dense lines of code appeared.

That was a toolpath program generated using Red Star Industrial CAD.

The progress bar slowly moved forward, taking more than ten seconds to load completely.

Zhao Qiang's Adam's apple bobbed as soon as he glanced at the document's length.

This thing doesn't look like a normal part.

The knife technique is too complicated.

Lin Xichong, the technician in charge of clamping, waved.

"Introducing new ingredients."

"Square aluminum alloy bricks, 7075 aerospace grade, Curry should still have some."

The technician paused for a moment, then immediately turned and ran to prepare the materials.