silence

Chapter 38 Self-Repair
After listening to the "broken copper and rotten iron" explanation, Chi Heng understood that the radioisotope thermoelectric battery originally installed on the robot, although the stored energy is terrible, it can only generate electricity at a fixed power.This has led to the fact that the robot does not use so much electrical energy, and it can only be wasted in the form of heat radiation.

But the designer must feel that it doesn't matter. Anyway, the energy of the radioisotope thermoelectric generator is almost "infinite" within the design period, and if it is wasted, it will be wasted.

And if it is replaced with a carbon fiber composite structure battery, it is equivalent to an ordinary battery, and it must be replenished when it is used up.

"Sir, can Junk, Junk use these parts to modify?"

"Battered copper and rotten iron" tilted his head to look at Chi Heng.

It obviously didn't tilt its head on purpose, but the support structure supporting its head has become unstable.

"Use it."

Chi Heng said that it doesn't matter, anyway, he doesn't need these parts here.

"By the way, let's see what this is?"

Chi Heng led the "broken copper and iron" up the stairs to the basement, pointing to the super-large black square cabinet with a height of more than three meters and a width of two meters.

"This is, this is the radioisotope thermoelectric generator array..."

"Broken copper and iron" pointed to an inconspicuous engraved number on the corner of the square cabinet, "The model, the model is PT-35871, the design and design electrical output power is 400kW, and the design and service life is 110 years."

Chi Heng was startled. He had no idea that the square cabinet in the basement was actually a large radioactive nuclear battery. At the same time, he was shocked by the power output. With such a huge power, it can generate 400 kWh per hour and 9600 kWh a day. It can reach 28.8 kWh per month.

No wonder the refrigerator freezer in the basement is still freezing canned food and frozen meat for more than ten years, because there is such an exaggerated power supply device, there is no need to worry about power shortage.

"But so much electricity... the basement shouldn't be able to use much, so where does the excess electricity go?"

Chi Heng was puzzled.

"Radioisotope thermoelectric generator arrays generally, generally require backup heat dissipation and heat dissipation systems, and the unused electricity will be converted into thermal energy."

"Broken copper and iron" said: "The bottom here should be, it should be opened up, and the heat dissipation system has been designed and designed."

Chi Heng suddenly thought of the nearby Lake Shea, maybe the Lake Shea is used to dissipate heat.

Don't look at the horror of this square cabinet's power generation. It can generate 9600 degrees of electricity a day. However, in theory, 1 degree of electricity can boil 8 kilograms of water (from 0 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius), and 9600 degrees of electricity can boil 76800 kilograms of water, which is 76.8 cubic meters water only.

Compared with the at least millions of cubic meters of water in the entire Lake Shea, it is really insignificant. Using groundwater to connect Lake Shea to make the cooling system of the nuclear battery is perfect.

"Okay, see what you can use, use it as much as you can, don't mess up the basement warehouse... By the way, without my permission, you are not allowed to open the door that came in."

After Chi Heng finished his instructions, he went to prepare his own affairs, and let the "broken copper and iron" return to the basement warehouse.

Of course, he also felt uneasy, so he quietly came to the basement warehouse to observe the movement of "Battered Copper and Iron", and found that it had no illegal actions, but was seriously modifying... Its left arm was actually designed with a focused laser beam , using laser radiation to directly heat the surface of the component, making it melt instantly, and punching a specific small hole. Moving down and forward, it quickly fills the gap left by the laser beam and condenses, so the weld is formed.

What would it mean if a robot could repair itself?
Robots capable of self-repair generally need to digitally model themselves. When the scanning itself does not match the digital modeling, it can analyze and repair the mismatch.

But this is only simple in principle, and there will be quite a lot of problems in actual operation. When it comes to details, even tightening a screw requires sophisticated algorithms.In addition, just like humans cannot apply sunscreen to their whole body and need help from others, robots also have angles that cannot be used. Self-maintenance is very difficult and cost-effective.

However, "Broken Copper and Iron" can understand Chi Heng's natural language and the logic of the dialogue before and after. Self-maintenance is not a specific area and a planned sequence, but a brand-new modification, which means that the other party's AI has reached a very high level. The degree of power is at least part of "strong artificial intelligence", not "weak artificial intelligence".

Chi Heng peeked at it for a long time, then closed the basement warehouse door to prevent the noise from disturbing his sleep.

In fact, even after closing the door, there was still noise that disturbed him, and he fell asleep at some point later.

Waking up early the next morning, Chi Heng with two dark circles under his eyes, opened the door of the basement warehouse, walked down the stairs, and found that the "broken copper and iron" had almost changed its appearance.

If we say that the previous robot, although tattered, can be seen that its body is very high-end and has a strong texture, but this time it is quite different, and it feels like a rich man has become a beggar.

The supporting skeleton of the body has not been changed, but the arms and legs that can be attached to the skeleton have all changed. Perhaps it is because the precision of laser cutting and laser welding is not enough, and it cannot be polished, resulting in "broken copper and iron" to recreate the arm, such as the arm The mechanical claw at the end looks very rough, and the traces of welding are particularly obvious.

Chi Heng walked over, and the sound unit of the "broken copper and iron" speaker finally stopped being harsh and stuttering, and he shouted clearly: "Sir, Junk has repaired part of his body, and Junk thanks Sir for his help."

"You... have a big modification."

Chi Heng said in surprise.

"Yes, Sir, Junk has rebuilt a new arm with a total of 12 joints, replaced a new high-resolution camera, laser rangefinder and inertial measurement unit, tactile sensors, and installed 32 new brushes The DC motor, while outdated compared to Junk's previous parts, works fine, and Junk can continue to help Sir."

"Broken copper and iron" clumsily turned around in place, like a duckling learning to walk.

"Okay, but with you like this, I mean how long will your battery last you?"

"Sir, according to the current battery curve, it can continue to work for 30 hours under the normal minimum power consumption, and can continue to work for 7 hours under the highest power consumption..."

"Sir, Junk still needs your help..."

"Broken copper and iron" turned around, "Junk still has screws that need to be tightened..."

Under its guidance, Chi Heng first put the gaskets in the corresponding positions, and then used 10-24, 8-32 screws and nuts to help tighten them.

(End of this chapter)