Scheduled Supercomputer, Creating Artificial Intelligence

Compared to previous chemical fuel propulsion drones.

Mature technologies and components are already available on the market.

Chen Yi only needs to purchase the components, assemble them manually, and then adjust the attributes for upgrades.

Current ion propulsion drones and Hall effect thruster drones represent a breakthrough from nothing to something.

This means that.

For the overall system design, components, and every single technology of the ion propulsion drone, Chen Yi has to research it all himself.

For this reason.

Chen Yi spent more than half a month.

Except for the 15th day of the lunar calendar, when he controlled the lunar landing drone entering lunar orbit, took a close-up photo of the moon, and posted it on his status, he kept a low profile without live streaming.

He also took time to build a rotating detonation engine, read the technology, replaced the quantum materials he didn't understand with copper-based superalloys, and sent a technical paper to Professor Zhang.

The rest of the time, Chen Yi was busy with the technical details of the new drone.

He asked Professor Zhang for a list of relevant books and literature, and used two opportunities for virtual learning.

Only then did he complete the design and planning of his new drone.

At the same time, this is also his first independently designed drone.

Marking a new milestone in his drone-building journey.

"Although the efficiency and specific impulse of ion thrusters are impressive, their thrust is notoriously small."

"Furthermore, according to the conservation of kinetic energy and the impulse formula, it can be calculated that."

"For the same power, the faster the ejection velocity, the higher the impulse, and the lower the ejected mass, resulting in smaller thrust."

"Therefore, to enter space from the ground using ion propulsion, the key lies in four points."

"First, the thrust must be adjustable, and it can intake air at low altitudes." "Second, increase the energy density, releasing higher energy from the same mass." "Third, lighten and hollow out the material structure to reduce the drone's own weight." "Fourth, adopt a low-speed spaceflight method that only overcomes planetary gravity to enter space."

"To put it figuratively, ion propulsion relies on technical endurance and external replenishment."

"It cannot be like chemical propulsion, which is like a young man full of vigor, fiery, and intense."

Chen Yi clarified his thoughts step by step.

The biggest drawback of ion propulsion is its extremely small thrust.

Taking the HET-80 Hall thruster on the Tianhe Space Station as an example.

Its power is 1350W, equivalent to 1.8 horsepower, but the thrust generated by the HET-80 is only 80 millinewtons.

The mass of an ordinary chicken egg, after unit conversion, is approximately 500 millinewtons.

It takes 6 HET-80 Hall thrusters to push a chicken egg.

It is conceivable how small the thrust of such an ion propulsion drone is.

To enter space from the ground, a different design and technical approach must be used.

"The hardware system design is complete, and the next step is the avionics control layer design."

Chen Yi took out his phone and dialed He Yu's number.

Space drones do not follow orbits.

The avionics control system relies on artificial intelligence assistance.

Therefore, artificial intelligence also needs to be arranged before manufacturing the drone.

"Hello, Manager He." "I have some new ideas recently, and the studio needs to order a supercomputer." "The cost of the supercomputer will be deducted from the studio's patent licensing fees later."

After a few seconds, He Yu answered the call.

Chen Yi did not stand on ceremony and directly stated his requirements.

Yifei has now completed its industrial and commercial restructuring.

The entire Yifei has been divided into two parts.

One part is Chen Yi's studio and the laboratory he is acquiring, responsible for technological development.

The other part is the new Yifei company managed by He Yu, responsible for market operations, production, sales, and all matters except technological development.

Yifei's technology is licensed through agency agreements.

The Yifei studio licenses it to Yifei Company.

The new Yifei company.

He Yu, who was following up on the factory's renovation and construction and handling company affairs.

Upon hearing Chen Yi's request, she subconsciously opened the report.

She checked the company's recent total sales and total pre-order amounts.

After a glance, He Yu replied to Chen Yi, "President Chen, what's the approximate budget for the supercomputer you want?"

"Around 100 million."

Chen Yi analyzed the requirements for cultivating and upgrading artificial intelligence and gave a price.

"..."

Upon hearing the price, He Yu's expression almost broke: "President Chen, the company account has less than 50 million left. Your supercomputer is too expensive."

"No way, I thought the drone engines were selling quite well recently.

The shipment exceeded 20,000 units. Even at a wholesale price of 25,000, the revenue should be at least 500 million."

A hint of doubt flashed through Chen Yi's mind.

He was very clear about the cost of the drone engines he had developed.

Previously, at Yifei's small workshop, the cost of manufacturing one engine, including raw materials, labor, equipment depreciation, positioning chips, electricity, etc., was between 2,000 and 2,500.

Now that Yifei had acquired a larger mechanical processing plant with more complete equipment, increasing the total production capacity to 50,000 units per month, the manufacturing cost of the engines could be further reduced, conservatively to below 2,000.

More than 80% of the 500 million revenue from shipments was profit.

But now, He Yu was saying that Yifei couldn't even come up with 100 million?

"..."

He Yu rubbed her forehead: "President Chen, I reported this to you 10 days ago.

Yifei acquired a battery manufacturing company for 256 million.

Recently, we spent 89 million on renovating the battery production workshop and ordering various materials and equipment.

In addition to other expenses like relocating the company headquarters and acquiring laboratories, etc.

I reported all these large expenditures exceeding two million to you. The cashier's orders were also sent to Manager Qin for you to sign.

You didn't even look at them before signing, did you?"

"Is that so?"

Chen Yi thought for a moment.

It seemed that Qin Xiaoyu had indeed given him some financial cashier's orders to sign a few days ago.

However, he was busy designing his new drone at the time and had almost forgotten about it after signing.

Chen Yi opened his company email and checked the latest financial summary table sent by the finance department.

Upon seeing Yifei's debt-to-asset ratio was less than 10%.

This He Yu was still too conservative.

With such a low debt-to-asset ratio, why wasn't she taking out loans when she needed money?

With this thought, Chen Yi made a decision: "Manager He, let's apply for a loan and order one first, putting it under Yifei Company's assets.

We can transfer it to the studio later through patent dividends as a form of payment."

"May I ask, President Chen, what do you plan to do with this supercomputer? Is the company planning to expand into a new business in the data computing industry?"

He Yu was silent for a moment, deciding to ask for clarification.

"I suddenly had an inspiration and need to use a supercomputer to verify it," Chen Yi answered frankly without hiding anything.

"In that case, we could rent a supercomputer. There's no need to spend so much money to buy one, as Yifei's business doesn't require long-term use of a supercomputer for now."

"The experiment is quite intensive and might damage the supercomputer, so it's better to buy our own."

"..."

"Yes, I will contact the bank about the loan today."

He Yu was silent for a long time, but finally agreed to the loan purchase.

Given Yifei's technical performance and turnover.

Bank managers were practically lining up to offer loans, their polished shoes nearly wearing down Yifei's floor.

However, with the ultra-high profit product of the space engine.

Even though Yifei had been aggressively acquiring companies and setting up battery production lines recently, their cash flow had been sufficient.

As a qualified manager, facing such excellent cash flow, she had been focused on controlling the company's debt and leverage, trying to minimize loans.

She hadn't expected that after controlling it for so long and rejecting numerous bank representatives, Yifei would still need a loan.

And the reason for the loan was that the boss suddenly had an idea that required supercomputer verification, and he even explicitly stated that it might lead to the supercomputer's damage.

However, the outcome, along with Chen Yi treating a supercomputer worth hundreds of millions like a toy, made her feel exhausted.

Although she came to Yifei as a professional manager because she valued its technological potential.

But I didn't expect that Yifei's technology was indeed amazing.

The unreliability of this boss, and the extent to which he was a hands-off manager, were directly proportional to Yifei's potential.

He Yu sighed inwardly and then asked, "President Chen, the company's battery production workshop will be remodeled soon and can begin trial production. We're just waiting for your ultra-high energy batteries."

It was a promise Chen Yi had made to her before.

She had been incredibly motivated, eagerly accepting it.

Now, she was just waiting for Chen Yi to fulfill his commitment.