698: Chapter 693 Why Didn't He Think of That?

He walked over to a server cabinet and his fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard several times.

A faint electrical hum emanated from the depths of the laboratory, and several lights flickered on.

The light dispelled some of the darkness, revealing the silhouette of a massive object in the corner.

It was a humanoid robot skeleton, roughly 1.8 meters tall.

Its outer casing had not yet been assembled, leaving complex wiring and precision hydraulic transmission rods exposed.

Its design was full of industrial beauty, with every joint appearing uniquely crafted, yet it sat quietly on its stand like a soulless steel skeleton.

"Is this what all your hard work went into?" Shen Yan's voice broke the silence.

Zhou Qiming didn't look back; he just stroked the robot's cold metal thigh, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"I call it 'walker no. 1'."

"It was supposed to be able to run, jump, and traverse rugged mountain paths as if they were level ground."

"Instead of being what it is now—a pile of scrap metal."

His voice was filled with endless disappointment.

Chen Guangke listened from the side, feeling a bit uneasy himself.

Although he didn't understand the technology, he could feel how much emotion this man named Zhou Qiming had poured into this robot.

"The reason it can't move isn't because you ran out of money," Shen Yan spoke slowly.

Zhou Qiming whipped his head around, staring fixedly at him.

"How do you know?"

"The theories you mentioned in the cafe earlier sounded seamless," Shen Yan replied with a question of his own, "but there's always a chasm between theory and reality. Has your 'Dynamic Adaptive Neural Balance Algorithm' hit a bottleneck?"

Zhou Qiming's heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand.

This man really wasn't just talking nonsense.

Every word he said poked precisely at his painful spot.

"There's nothing wrong with the algorithm's logic," Zhou Qiming said through gritted teeth. "The problem lies in the hardware's response latency."

"The servo motors?" Shen Yan directly named the core component.

"Exactly!" Zhou Qiming became agitated again. "My algorithm requires the robot's joints to make predictive micro-adjustments the instant they receive an imbalance signal. This requires the servo motors to have a response speed of less than 5 milliseconds and be able to withstand extremely high torque impacts."

"I've tried every high-end servo motor on the market; the best can only manage 8 milliseconds. That 3-millisecond gap is the difference between 'Walker' and 'scrap metal'!"

"For those 3 milliseconds, I burned through all my money, mortgaged my house, borrowed from every friend and relative, and finally..."

He couldn't go on, closing his eyes in pain.

The dispersal of his team, the mockery of investors, his wife's lack of understanding—scenes flashed through his mind one after another.

Chen Guangke was completely lost in the technical talk, but he understood Zhou Qiming's despair.

To him, it seemed like an unsolvable problem.

If even the best parts on the market couldn't meet the requirements, what was the point?

However, Shen Yan's next sentence caused the air in the entire lab to freeze.

"Why must you use electric-drive servos?"

Zhou Qiming snapped his eyes open, looking at Shen Yan in utter bewilderment.

"Not electric drive? Then what? Hydraulic? Pneumatic? That kind of volume and weight simply can't be used on a humanoid robot!"

This was the industry consensus, the most basic of basics.

He felt that Shen Yan had finally asked an amateur question.

Shen Yan just smiled, walked to the whiteboard, and picked up an oil-based marker.

"No, I'm not talking about traditional hydraulics."

As he spoke, he quickly sketched a complex structural diagram on the whiteboard.

"Let me ask you, have you ever heard of 'Piezoelectric Ceramic Fiber Composites'?"

Zhou Qiming froze.

He had only seen this term in an extremely cutting-edge foreign research paper.

It was a brand-new material that could deform when energized, and its response speed was in the nanosecond range!

"This material can simulate biological muscle fibers. Through layering and weaving, one can create 'artificial muscles' that are small, lightweight, possess explosive power, and have a response speed with near-zero latency."

Shen Yan's pen danced across the whiteboard, clearly drawing out precision mechanical models and energy conduction paths.

"Using this to replace traditional servo motors, never mind 5 milliseconds, even a 0.5-millisecond response speed wouldn't be a problem. Furthermore, its structure is more flexible, with impact resistance far exceeding traditional motors."

"This scheme is what I call the 'Bionic Tendon Drive System'."

Shen Yan finished, dropped the pen, and turned to look at Zhou Qiming.

The entire laboratory was deathly silent.

Chen Guangke stared dumbfoundedly at the design on the whiteboard that looked like a heavenly script, then looked back at Shen Yan.

He felt like his brain wasn't big enough to process this.

Wasn't Yan Zi involved in software and energy?

When did he become a top expert in the field of robotics?

This was just too damn surreal.

As for Zhou Qiming, he was completely petrified.

He stared blankly at the whiteboard, his body beginning to tremble slightly from extreme excitement.

Bionic Tendon Drive System...

Artificial muscles...

This line of thinking was a stroke of genius!

It was like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night, instantly illuminating all his confusion and bewilderment.

Why hadn't he thought of that?

No, it wasn't that he hadn't thought of it; it was that he didn't dare to think of it!

Piezoelectric Ceramic Fiber Composites were currently still in the theoretical stage in the world's top laboratories. Even samples were extremely rare, let alone engineering and commercializing them.

In the eyes of any Engineer, this was an even more 'idealistic' fantasy than his algorithm.

But Shen Yan had not only said it out loud, he had also provided a complete, logically consistent engineering solution!

"You... you're actually..." Zhou Qiming's lips quivered, unable to complete a single word.

The way he looked at Shen Yan had changed from seeing a 'knowledgeable businessman' to seeing an 'unknown deity'.

"I told you, I'm a businessman interested in the future."

Shen Yan walked up to Zhou Qiming, his tone calm.

"Now, we can talk about the acquisition... no, the cooperation."

Zhou Qiming suddenly snapped back to his senses.

Looking at Shen Yan, there wasn't a trace of doubt or wariness left in his eyes, only fanatical worship and the desperate desire to grasp a lifeline.

"You... please speak!" He subconsciously used respectful language.

"Regarding Qingtian Laboratory, I will inject 100 million in capital to establish a new company, also named 'Sky-High'."

"I will hold a 70% stake, and you, Mr. Zhou Qiming, will hold a 30% stake based on your technical contribution. Furthermore, you will be the CEO and Chief Scientist of the new company."

"I promise that all company operations, finance, and marketing will be handled by my people. You only need to do one thing—turn your dream into reality."

"I will provide you with the world's best laboratory, top-tier talent, and..."

Shen Yan paused, speaking word by word.

"...a stable supply chain for 'Piezoelectric Ceramic Fiber Composites'."