122: Chapter 122 The First Foot of the Machine

10:20 AM.

Jiangcheng University Modern Engineering Training Center.

The scorching heat wave of midsummer, which could almost distort the air, was blocked outside by the heavy factory doors.

Inside the huge workshop, the roar of CNC machine tools and the shrill sound of milling cutters cutting metal intertwined.

Jiang Lin was standing quietly in front of the equipment registration desk.

He carried a black tool kit on his back and held a multi-compartment transparent engineering parts box in his right hand.

Components were neatly classified and stored in different partitions of the box.

Several unmachined white polyoxymethylene engineering plastic blanks, several matte 7075 aerospace aluminum alloy connecting plates, miniature ball bearings packed in sealed anti-static bags, high-strength springs, and thin-walled steel sheets.

As well as a few custom small gear parts whose surfaces had already been marked with tolerances using a red marker.

In his left hand, he held a stack of A3 engineering drawings annotated with dimensional and geometric tolerances.

In the lower right corner of the topmost drawing, the ownership of this stack of paper was marked in rigorous engineering font.

[ G-01 _ Public _ Demo _ v0.1 ]

[ Foot Contact Assembly (Foot Contact Module Assembly Drawing) ]

[ Material: POM foot pad / compliance layer / sensor seat ]

The elderly teacher responsible for registering borrowed equipment had the surname Liu, and usually liked dealing with students who had strong hands-on abilities.

He pushed his presbyopic glasses up, looked at the overly young face in front of him, and asked with a smile: "Little Jiang, are you still coming to do rough work today? I've seen the news. Aren't you going to the International Congress of Mathematicians to give a report soon?"

Jiang Lin signed his name in the signature column and nodded slightly.

"The rigidity and repetitive positioning of that small desktop CNC machine tool at home are not enough. Cutting POM is not difficult; the difficulty is that the relative position tolerances of thin-walled slots, positioning holes, and the sensor seat cannot be maintained."

Teacher Liu was slightly stunned: "I mean the report for that international conference, that online report. Don't you need to prepare a speech draft?"

"It is indeed an online report."

Jiang Lin handed the form back, "You can just open your computer at home and do it."

Teacher Liu looked at the drawings in his hand and asked tentatively: "Then are you rushing to process this thing now as a teaching aid for Physics demonstration in the report?"

"No."

Jiang Lin shook his head, his gaze falling on the piece of white POM plastic in the transparent parts box.

"These are chassis parts used for testing."

Teacher Liu: "..."

The old teacher opened his mouth and finally closed it wisely.

He felt that if he continued to ask what kind of ghost connection there was between this chassis part and the International Congress of Mathematicians, it would only make him look like an out-of-touch old antique.

After finishing the registration procedures and just turning around, Jiang Lin saw Professor Gu Nanzhou walking in from outside the huge rolling shutter door of the Engineering Training Center.

Following behind Professor Gu Nanzhou were the trio of Meng Che, Yin Hang, and Yao Siyu.

These three people were here to find their mentor, Professor Lu Zhixing.

However, when they actually stood in the workshop full of industrial ruggedness and saw with their own eyes Jiang Lin, the center of the storm, holding a box of hardware parts and plastic plates, the expressions on their faces still inevitably felt somewhat incredible.

Meng Che was the first person who couldn't control his emotions: "Are you really screwing screws here?"

"Otherwise, where else can I go?"

Jiang Lin didn't understand why the other party was making such a fuss.

"Do you know that the outside world is already arguing to the sky about your ICM scheduling? At this critical juncture, instead of memorizing your script, you ran over to mess with this?"

"The logical framework and verification chain are all in my head; there's no need to memorize them."

Jiang Lin handed the stack of drawings to Yin Hang, who was closest, "Instead, this G-01 foot contact module has a rather tricky structure because it needs to solve the buffering problem of unstructured terrain."

The air seemed to be sucked dry at that instant.

Yin Hang subconsciously took the drawings and looked down.

But with just one glance, he took a sharp cold breath.

"Why do the design ideas, routing, and joint force logic of this hexapod chassis look a bit familiar?"

Yao Siyu, who knew the truth, casually helped Jiang Lin explain: "Of course it looks familiar. Isn't this that super popular hexapod on Bilibili?"

"It does look a bit similar. Holy crap, you actually made it?"

Yin Hang muttered, then suddenly reacted.

"So, there is no secret university research team at all. The persona behind the Low Entropy Workshop account is actually you, Old Jiang."

Professor Gu Nanzhou stood a few steps away, quietly watching this scene.

He usually paid attention to some cutting-edge technological trends and naturally knew about the demonstration video regarding non-periodic mechanical structures that had caused quite a stir in the technical circle recently.

He was also aware of the many guesses from the outside world about which top laboratory stood behind the Low Entropy Workshop.

But no matter what, he never equated that mysterious UP host full of industrial hardcore vibes with the teenager in front of him who had just dropped a nuclear bomb in the field of pure mathematics.

This eighteen-year-old young man's name had just been posted on the official website of the ICM, the highest sanctuary of mathematics.

At this very moment, the national mathematics circle, university teachers, and short-video platforms were frantically interpreting and fiercely debating his forty-five-minute report.

Yet he himself, carrying a tool kit, stood in the bustling Engineering Training Center, seriously preparing to machine a mechanical foot composed of metal and plastic.

This huge cognitive contrast was absurd to the extreme.

Yet in front of Jiang Lin's seamless technical logic, it was reasonable to the extreme.

Just then, a commotion came from the entrance of the Engineering Training Center.

Two reporters wearing media work badges and a cameraman carrying a heavy camera were walking over quickly.

These three media people obviously followed the clues on the internet and the revelations of students on campus, inquiring all the way, and accurately found Jiang Lin's whereabouts.

One of the female reporters with shoulder-length short hair had sharp eyes and spotted Jiang Lin standing in front of the registration desk at a glance.

But because she was blocked by the security guard, she had to shout aloud: "Classmate Jiang Lin, we are from the Provincial Television Science and Technology Channel. May we take up two minutes of your time for an interview?"

Teacher Liu, who was responsible for registration, frowned, feeling that this group of media people had no rules at all, and was about to step forward to drive them out.

Jiang Lin, however, raised his head and glanced at the electronic clock hanging on the wall.

There were still five minutes left before the previous student finished processing on the precision CNC milling machine he had booked.

"Yes."

Seeing this, the reporter was overjoyed, repeatedly thanked the security guard, quickly tidied her collar, and walked quickly in front of Jiang Lin.

The cameraman immediately adjusted the camera position, aiming the pitch-black lens at the teenager who was at the center of public opinion.

"Hello, Classmate Jiang Lin. The ICM official website officially announced the schedule early this morning, confirming that you will give a special online report lasting up to forty-five minutes at this International Congress of Mathematicians."

The female reporter adjusted her expression to the most professional and approachable smile, speaking at a fast and passionate pace.

"This news has currently caused great attention and shock in the academic circles and public level at home and abroad. As an upcoming college freshman, how do you view this matter at this moment? Do you feel any pressure?"

This was a standard news questioning template.

It preset the interviewee's excitement, panic, or precocious politeness.

It didn't need any solid dry goods, only emotional value, to satisfy the public's stereotypical expectations of a national genius.

Meng Che, Yin Hang, and Yao Siyu instantly fell silent, holding their breath as they looked at Jiang Lin.

Facing the camera with the recording red light flashing, Jiang Lin looked calm, without a trace of awkwardness from being illuminated by the spotlight.

Thinking for half a second, he gave a teeth-grindingly hard response.

"If everyone is interested in this matter, focus on reading the non-periodic construction method, local forcing mechanism, and how the finite-state verification chain rules out periodic tiling in the paper."

The air suddenly became quiet.

The female reporter obviously stuttered for a moment, the smile that had originally hung on her lips freezing on her face.

[part:gemini-3.6-flash]

Her prepared repertoire of standard talking points—such as the mental journey of a prodigy, the reflections of a Gaokao champion stepping onto the international stage, and balancing studies with scientific research—shattered completely in the face of obscure technical terms like local forcing mechanisms and finite-state verification chains, leaving her entirely at a loss for words.

Standing to the side, Professor Gu Nanzhou cast his eyes downward, glancing at the transparent parts box holding bases and screws in Jiang Lin's hand. The corner of his mouth twitched subtly, as if he were trying hard to suppress a laugh.

The reporter was well-trained, after all. Relying on her strong professional instincts, she quickly adjusted her strategy and moved on to what seemed like a safe question.

"Then did you come to Jiangcheng University's Engineering Training Center first thing this morning to borrow the university's network or venue to prepare for this important online ICM report?"

Hearing this question, Jiang Lin looked down, his eyes sweeping over the unshaped plastic blank in his hand.

"No."

The female reporter froze for a moment. "Then what is it for?"

"To machine a foot assembly for a mobile platform," Jiang Lin answered truthfully.

The reporter fell silent for a full half second.

Subconsciously following Jiang Lin's gaze, she looked down at the transparent engineering box.

The camera operator was quick on the uptake as well, immediately tilting the lens down for a push-in close-up.

Under the high-definition lens:

Inside the transparent plastic box, items completely devoid of any academic air were captured crystal-clear in the frame.

"A mobile platform?"

The female reporter's brain experienced a brief short-circuit, her voice floating uncertainly.

"An experimental prototype in the field of robotics with environmental adaptability, based on a non-periodic underlying logic," Jiang Lin added with a more precise definition.

The reporter fell silent once more.

For news media, this answer was utterly absurd.

A person who was about to explain Jiangs Brick to the smartest minds in the world in the highest hall of international mathematics was currently standing in Jiangda University's Engineering Training Center.

In his hands, he wasn't carrying a paper or a manuscript, but a pile of mechanical hardware components.

And he was solemnly announcing to the camera that he wasn't here to prepare for a report destined for the history books, but to machine a robot's foot.

This almost jarring, montage-like visual contrast didn't need post-production directors to deliberately edit or dramatize it.

It possessed, on its own, the impact to blow right through any social media algorithm.

The reporter's sharp journalistic intuition told her that the scene before her and this placid conversation were vastly more valuable than simply interviewing him about securing an invitation to the ICM.

"Do you mean that besides your mathematical research and the upcoming ICM presentation, your energy is actually focused on robot manufacturing, and that this is your main future research direction?"

"It is merely one branch of technical implementation," Jiang Lin replied, still not falling into her setup. "Mathematics only provides an underlying logical tool. Mapping theory to physical reality is a long process of engineering iteration. Life isn't a one-way street confined to a single track."

For an ordinary reporter with no technical background, this statement was practically equivalent to no explanation at all.

But the camera's blinking red light had already recorded these words, which carried a subtle edge of intimidation, in their entirety.

"Two minutes are up."

Jiang Lin checked the time and, ignoring the reporter who wanted to ask further questions, turned and walked into the center without lingering for a moment.

The security guard and Teacher Liu stepped forward at just the right time, keeping the media team trying to follow behind the safety line.

The camera operator's lens could only capture one last frame from afar.

The tall, slender youth walked up to a heavy-duty CNC milling machine, placed a piece of white POM stock securely into a bench vise, and skillfully began tightening the clamp.

Teacher Guo Jianye had arrived in the workshop at some unknown point.

The old foreman, who was usually strict about materials and machining processes, stood beside the machine tool like a ghost with his hands behind his back.

He narrowed his eyes, first glancing at the blueprint placed on the console, then looking at Jiang Lin, who was setting up the tool.

"Using POM for the compliance layer base?" Teacher Guo Jianye tapped his rough fingers on the console. "Although this material has good self-lubrication and impact resistance, it deforms easily due to internal stress during cutting. How much machining allowance do you plan to leave on the outer profile?"

Jiang Lin loaded the machining program he had written in advance and manually tweaked two parameters for feed rate and spindle speed.

"During the roughing stage, I'll leave a 0.3 mm allowance on the outer profile first. The bottom load-bearing surface that comes into direct contact with the terrain will be left for final finishing to avoid clamping deformation."

Teacher Guo Jianye nodded with satisfaction and asked further, "What about that counterbore for the sensor base?"

"I won't fix the bottom hole dimensions just yet; I'll only machine a clearance slot for fine-tuning. Once the whole foot module runs its first round of load feedback curves on the test rig and confirms the stress extremes, I'll decide the final locking position and fastener model."

"Very clear logic. Go ahead and start the machine."

Teacher Guo Jianye asked no more and took half a step back.

Jiang Lin pressed the start button.

The machine let out a steady, powerful roar.

The high-speed rotating tungsten carbide milling cutter sliced precisely into the white plastic blank.

White chips sprayed out like snowflakes, swept away by compressed air from the hose to prevent the plastic from melting onto the cutting edge due to localized overheating.

Outside the Engineering Training Center, far away from this machine tool in the endless domain of cyberspace—

The screenshot from the ICM official website bearing the words "45 min" was still spreading and fermenting exponentially.

In newsrooms, directors had already begun frantically editing the interview footage shot earlier at the Engineering Training Center, formulating explosive headlines one after another.

"After the ICM 45-Minute Speaker List Announcement, Jiang Lin Appears in Jiangda Workshop: I'm Not Preparing Manuscripts, I'm Here to Machine a Robot's Foot."

"A Dimensional Strike by a Genius? After Solving a World-Class Math Problem, He Turned Around and Picked Up a Milling Cutter."

Meanwhile, inside the somewhat noisy workshop of the center:

Wearing goggles, Jiang Lin calmly watched the edges of the POM blank being shaved away bit by bit by the milling cutter.

This first foot assembly taking shape was very small, and its appearance couldn't even be called pretty due to the rough allowance left for testing.

But it would become the very first foot to tread upon the solid ground of the physical world for the real-world physical reproduction of G-01, which had been deduced countless times on paper.

Professor Gu Nanzhou stood a few paces away, quietly watching this scene through the flying chips.

Deep in his heart, a strong sense of absurdity suddenly surged up.

The illusory and abstract world of mathematics was rolling out the red carpet to welcome Jiang Lin, and everyone was holding their breath, waiting for him to spend those forty-five minutes explaining to all humanity a brick of pure logic that transcended the era.

Yet Jiang Lin himself, at this moment, cared most about controlling the tool feed rate within a reasonable range so he could precisely machine an ordinary piece of plastic into the footpad of a real robot.

In that instant, Professor Gu Nanzhou suddenly had an epiphany.

Sitting in his office last night and muttering to his phone screen, "I've never even given a forty-five-minute talk at the ICM," had actually been a limitation in itself.

A narrow self-pity trapped within traditional academic evaluation systems.

What was truly precious was not that Jiang Lin was going to speak for forty-five minutes at the ICM at the age of eighteen.

Rather, while a forty-five-minute ICM talk was prominent enough to be placed at the top of a résumé for the vast majority of mathematicians,

for Jiang Lin, it was merely a node on his schedule.

It wasn't even the first thing he had to deal with this morning.

The harsh sound of the milling cutter slicing through material continued to echo in the workshop, carrying a reassuring industrial rhythm.

The machine paused, and the spindle stopped spinning.

Jiang Lin picked up the vernier caliper resting to the side, leaned down to measure the newly milled slot, and carefully read the markings.

Then, picking up a gel pen, he wrote down today's first line of the machining log in the blank space at the bottom right corner of the blueprint:

[G-01 Foot Pad A1 - POM]

[Physical Reproduction, Physical Verification: Piece 1.]