147: Manager Zhao, why are you sweating?

According to the System, this technology is merely a mechanical arm from a 2026 sweeping robot.

Its only use is picking up household trash.

But Dr. Zhou didn't see it that way after reviewing the data. If development followed a normal trajectory, without a sudden technological breakthrough, it would be impossible to develop this kind of mechanical arm technology in just over a decade, reaching 2026.

Chen Chen said he wanted to develop this mechanical arm and put it on their own sweeping robots, which earned him a severe scolding from Dr. Zhou.

How could such an advanced piece of equipment be used for picking up trash?

If paired with brain-computer interface technology, this mechanical arm could completely replace a person's normal arm. Wouldn't that be a blessing for people with disabilities!

Not only in medicine, but also in automated production. Current factory mechanical arms are rigid structures driven by electric motors, covered in wiring harnesses, and can only perform specific tasks. They are nothing like this mechanical arm, which is entirely flexible, like an elephant's trunk, capable of mimicking human arms and hands at any angle.

Dr. Zhou has already made some technological breakthroughs based on the data, but further research is difficult, and Red Star Laboratory might not even be able to replicate it.

Left with no choice, Chen Chen had to ask Lu Weibing to hire a few more specialized talents.

"CEO Lu, I know you're excited, but please try to calm down."

"Our current stage of research can only achieve simple movements like grasping; it's not ready for commercial use yet."

"The main issue is that the underlying drive system cannot be completed, and there are still many problems with the structural materials."

"These are the things we urgently need to solve."

Lu Weiqi glanced at Zhao Zhijie next to him and said, "That progress is already very fast. If Li Lei knew about this news, I guarantee he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight."

"Haha, that guy is always thinking about his mechanical hands and visual robots. We'll tell him once we can solve the drive and mass production issues."

"I'm looking forward to the expression on his face when he sees a flexible mechanical arm installed on a sweeping robot."

After Chen Chen finished speaking, he also glanced at Zhao Zhijie next to him.

At this moment, beads of sweat were forming on Zhao Zhijie's head. Are these big shots really discussing company secrets without avoiding me at all?

Is this 'Mechanical Ascension Project' or 'Mechanical Arm Project' something that I, Zhao Zhijie, should be hearing about??

And Manager Lu actually asked CEO Chen whether he preferred white stockings or black stockings. Is this kind of explosive news something I'm allowed to know?

Don't look at me.

Don't look at me.

"I say, Xiao Zhao, is the air conditioning too strong? Why are you sweating?" Lu Weiqi looked at him and deliberately joked.

Zhao Zhijie forced a smile that was uglier than crying and said to Lu Weiqi, "CEO Lu, I wish I had gone deaf just now. Aren't you going to avoid me when discussing these secrets?"

"Haha." Chen Chen stepped forward and patted Zhao Zhijie's shoulder. "Xiao Zhao, don't be nervous. It's fine that you know this stuff, but you must keep quiet about it."

"If the news leaks out because of you, hmph..."

"CEO Chen, don't worry. My mouth is welded shut with iron; I definitely won't say anything." Zhao Zhijie quickly raised a finger to promise.

"I'm just teasing you. Ever since I came to Red Star, I've thought Xiao Zhao has a bright future, and I've always trained you as a confidant. Don't be nervous. This isn't really a secret; it's just a new research project, similar to your Star Flash Interconnection."

Hearing Chen Chen say this, Zhao Zhijie finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was genuinely worried that he wouldn't see the sun tomorrow morning. Thinking about it, if CEO Chen didn't avoid him when discussing the company's top secrets, didn't that mean he truly was CEO Chen's trusted subordinate?

CEO Chen promoted him from a team leader to the person in charge of Starlight OS, and even supported his self-developed operating system project, providing money and staff when requested.

"CEO Chen, you scared me to death just now." Zhao Zhijie patted his chest, feigning fear.

"Xiao Zhao, what stage is the Star Flash Interconnection at? Has the latency issue been resolved? Has classmate xiao xing been integrated into the mobile terminal, and how long until it can go live on our system?"

Facing Chen Chen's rapid-fire questioning, Zhao Zhijie composed himself. "CEO Chen, we have currently mastered some of the Star Flash Interconnection technology. Some of the most fundamental underlying elements are highly classified, and only a few people in our department are working on them, so the overall progress is not fast."

"However, completing the interconnection between mobile phones and TV/tablet terminals is no longer an issue, and the latency has been controlled to within 50 milliseconds. According to our schedule, we will update a major version of Starlight OS at the end of April this year, and it will be launched then."

"50 milliseconds? The latency is still a bit high. I remember the technical specifications stated that latency could be controlled to within 2 milliseconds. Why is the progress so slow?" Chen Chen frowned.

"CEO Chen, it's not that the progress is slow; it's that we need to do a lot of compilation work in the early stages. We have now begun continuous optimization, and we estimate that when it goes live, we will definitely achieve around 30 milliseconds."

"Hmm," Chen Chen nodded. Achieving screen interconnection with latency controlled to within 30 milliseconds in the 2014 stage was already quite good. Of course, Chen Chen would definitely not say that this latency was sufficient. "Keep working hard and strive to control it to within 10 milliseconds, or even 2 milliseconds, as soon as possible."

"What about little star?"

"The normal functions of classmate xiao xing have been completed, but the software integration on the mobile terminal still requires some time. Those few functions you mentioned are—well, they are quite time-consuming..." Zhao Zhijie looked embarrassed, and his voice trailed off.

CEO Chen assigned this task to his department last year, but it still hasn't been fully adapted.

It wasn't that his department was slacking off; they really needed to communicate and co-develop with the software department, which slowed down the progress. As for the desired functions, they involved issuing voice commands and having little star autonomously complete operations on the mobile terminal.

For example, inputting [Open WeChat and send 'I won't be home for dinner today' to Mom]. The phone would then automatically complete these operations on the mobile terminal.

Another example is [Open the album and search for photos I took in the Beijing on September 7, 2013]. little star would then be able to autonomously retrieve the photos taken that day. These functions sound easy, but they are not simple to implement.

The task progress was delayed from September last year until after the Spring Festival, and it still hasn't been completed.

"Is Li Wei from the software department not cooperating?"

"No, no, Manager Li is very cooperative with our work. He often works overtime with our team members to communicate."

"CEO Chen, I guarantee that these functions will be launched before July this year. We will complete them even if it means working overtime!" Zhao Zhijie said, looking at Chen Chen's expression.

Chen Chen frowned not because the progress was slow, but because Zhao Zhijie hadn't taken his words seriously.

He had told him a long time ago not to work overtime unnecessarily. His department had the highest number of people working overtime in the entire company, and when asked, they claimed it was voluntary, hoping to launch Red Star's self-developed operating system sooner.

"It's fine, I'm not worried. Since these functions can't be done in the short term, just launch the voice assistant function with the April version first. But regarding the overtime issue, I really need to talk to you."

"Your department works the most overtime in the entire company. I've said before that the self-developed operating system project cannot be rushed. We need an opportunity; otherwise, even if you finish it, there won't be a supporting ecosystem."

Zhao Zhijie quickly agreed, promising to ensure team members avoided working overtime as much as possible.

Seeing his stubbornness, Chen Chen could only sigh. "Fine, do as you see fit. Launch Star Flash Interconnection and little star together at the end of April, along with our Kunpeng Phone 2S."