Desert tree planting robot, fitness washing machine...
After 00, "he classmates" have opened their brains
Not long ago, the "top stream" UP host of station B, "Hello, my name is He," came out of the circle again because of the development of "Airdesk".
Born in the post-00s under the wave of Internet technology innovation in China, he has been given a new label by the times, and he is trying to change while understanding the world.
On the university campus, there are also some "classmates" who have their brains open: just like Transformers, the bicycle handlebar is folded down and becomes a front wheel lock; studying in front of a desk changes the bad habit of "shaking your legs" "Power" the washing machine; if there is too much wind and sand in the hometown, then set the program to let the robot "carry" trees to plant and water... These post-00 inventors try to find out the "bugs" hidden around them and integrate them into creativity. Create new products.
Hit the "pain points" around you
"The first test after the prototype was completed, the black rag turned white, and even we were shocked!" After 19 days, Mu Xingxing, who was born in 2003, and his classmates polished the ideas in their minds step by step for the first time. into a prototype, which excites them.
After being admitted to Tsinghua University last year, Mu Xingxing started a new campus life.
He was busy with his schoolwork and had the same rest time when he returned to the dormitory. The public washing machine with "more monks and less porridge" became a major problem for him and his classmates.
"If you buy a mini washing machine and put it in the bedroom, you will also face problems such as electricity consumption. Can we develop a manual mini washing machine, which can be operated manually and can also exercise."
As a result, Mu Xingxing and three other students formed a team and began to design and develop a "high-efficiency fitness washing machine for dormitories".
Products cannot be imagined in a vacuum.
At a class discussion, after Mu Xingxing showed their initial sketches, they were almost "destroyed" by various real-world problems raised by classmates.
"There is no outer barrel in the initial design, and the transmission structure is still a wild idea; considering that future products will be promoted in student dormitories and some underdeveloped areas, the price should not be too high, which requires special attention in the selection of raw materials, and at the same time Make sure your clothes are clean.”
what to do?
Mu Xingxing told China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that he always remembered what the teacher said that "engineering ability is exercised", "We are going to try to make a prototype machine and solve problems step by step in the process."
Like Mu Xingxing, Ding Kairui, a freshman at Tsinghua University, wants to use "folding handlebars" to solve the "difficult problems" caused by the congestion of parking spaces in front of the teaching building.
During the initial discussion, he drew a sketch on the blackboard, and he was inspired by his classmate's suggestion of "can the front wheel be locked when folded down": the two ideas were superimposed. Areas can accommodate more vehicles and also bring new advantages.
Using the triangular structure and lock design, the two handlebars that were folded were transformed into front wheel locks, "like the reactor on Iron Man's chest, I hope our design can make the bike more cool to ride".
As a means of transportation, safety should be given top priority.
Ding Kairui told reporters that they have repeatedly considered safety issues in practice. "For example, the length adjustment structure of the handlebar has been added, but the design and modification structure is simple and will not affect the basic functions such as braking and shifting."
Both Mu Xingxing and Ding Kairui's research are aimed at solving the pain points around them, and 21-year-old Gao Hongzhi thinks further.
In the Baidu R&D center office in Shanghai, Gao Hongzhi is involved in new product development.
Last year, he went to the University of Science and Technology of China from the Qinhuangdao campus of Northeastern University. He felt that the internship opportunities and the achievement of the research results were closely related to his decision to develop a desert tree planting robot in his freshman year.
Gao Hongzhi's hometown is in Gulang County, Gansu Province. When he was a child, he experienced the dusty weather of "one minute outside, and his body is full of sand", and he has also seen more and more green in his hometown in recent years.
Once talking to a friend about the difficulty of planting trees in the desert, he came up with a new idea: "It's so tiring to plant trees manually, why not let robots do it? As students majoring in automation, we can use our professional knowledge to solve it." Widely used in various colleges and universities Under the wave of innovation and entrepreneurship, he and his students from mechanical engineering, information science, information management and information systems formed a start-up team for the "Desert Control Robot" project, which opened the way for product development.
With the help of external force, in the "demolition" middle school
Based on the usual observation, open the brain hole, after "what can I do", it is "how can I do it".
Although he is determined to try to go through the whole process of product development, how to take the first step is still troubled by Mu Xingxing and team members.
"As a freshman, the professional class has just started, and the knowledge structure is still in high school. The way we thought of is to dismantle similar products, study their product structure and learn to use them." Mu Xingxing told reporters that their prototype raw materials are all Found on online shopping platforms and second-hand recycling platforms, "We recycled a stainless steel bucket as the inner bucket, dismantled a rotary dehydration mop, and transplanted the main drive shaft to the washing machine, working with similar principles; When I unpacked the rest, I also unexpectedly found that the main shaft fixed steel ball can play the same role as the ball bearing, greatly reducing the resistance, making the washing machine run without difficulty, and so on.”
However, "the ideal is full, the reality is very skinny".
During product assembly and testing, they experienced dilemmas such as the unexpected breakage of the barrel shaft during no-load testing, and the inability to match the drawings and actual tools for production. Finally, they found a solution in the constant testing of the school's iCenter laboratory, "drawing, cutting, electric welding, etc." New skills are learned."
In their view, despite the lack of professional knowledge at the beginning of the freshman year, "learn to use external forces and keep trial and error, and good products are worth sticking to."
Ding Kairui and the team members also had the same experience, "We found the teacher of iCenter and hoped to get help. For example, the two gears under the handlebar were suggested to be optimized by an experienced teacher, and we added it through 3D printing technology. more stable.”
The car lock is a new car lock that is reassembled by cutting after purchasing a conventional car lock from the Internet.
Gao Hongzhi also admitted that when he and his team members were determined to develop desert control robots, "the professional knowledge is not very good, and the project needs to be advanced while learning."
In the original design, taking into account the local planting conditions, they made water, nutrients, solid nutrients, etc. into a protective cover for saplings to provide the nutrients necessary for the early growth of saplings. Take saplings for planting.
"From a practical point of view, the robot is only responsible for planting trees, which is a bit 'wasteful'. If it is to replace manual planting, it must penetrate the entire planting process. For example, let the robot that has finished planting trees replenish nutrients and water regularly." Brand-new mechanical structure, brand-new technology, for a group of undergraduates, it seems "difficult to implement quickly".
"Relying on our technology at the time, we could only make the robot move stupidly, which could not achieve the desired goal at all. Knowing that there are many mature deep learning and open source technologies on the Paddle platform, even if we are beginners, we can use it. The development kit on the platform can quickly apply technologies such as AI perception to make our robots more intelligent."
Gao Hongzhi told reporters that there is no actual data when setting up the desert plant identification function, and there is no way to go to the desert to collect it.
The staff of the Paddle Platform helped them contact the developers on the platform in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, and completed this important AI recognition function with the help of their data.
"At present, this Internet robot has functions such as tree planting, maintenance, and obstacle avoidance, and has its own adaptive control system, AI perception capability and cloud data monitoring system."
They have gone through many versions before and after, developed small prototypes that run through various functions, and participated in various innovation and entrepreneurship competitions, hoping to absorb the suggestions of the judges and continue to improve.
At present, the team has grown from the initial 4 people to dozens of people. Gao Hongzhi is very emotional, "For a thing that we all think is very meaningful, we have been working hard together."
In the second half of last year, they scaled up the small prototype into a test machine for practical application, and started a new stage of testing and improvement on the sandy ground of Qinhuangdao.
Their next goal is to hope that the robot structure is more concise, the operation is more efficient, and the path planning in the program is more reasonable.
"Students Ho" expect products to benefit the public
Gao Hongzhi also considered establishing a company for commercialization, but due to the public welfare and specific regional nature of desert governance, the market demand is small, and it is difficult to achieve profitability.
With the support of the school's entrepreneurial incubator, they felt, "At present, we must do our best to polish the product to be more perfect, and look forward to solving more practical problems after it is put into use in the future."
Mu Xingxing also believes with confidence, "We are going to carry out product research and development in a long-term manner and earn our first pot of gold."
Currently, both the folding handlebar bicycle and the dormitory high-efficiency fitness washing machine are in the process of patent application for appearance.
Ding Kairui and the team members told reporters that although the product still needs to continue to polish the details, they still hope to explore the application of folding handlebars on shared bicycles.
Mu Xingxing believes, "From paying attention to the problems around us to launching the first-generation prototype today, although our products are still immature in the manufacturing process, the process of turning 'impossible' into 'possible' is very fulfilling. ".
It was the first time to put on a tie and walk to the final stage of the freshman session of the 11th Tsinghua University Creative Competition. Mu Xingxing felt that this was their "product launch conference", "We are building the second generation of products, and I believe in the future. It can be used not only in student dormitories, but also in scenarios such as outdoors and power shortages, and even people in third world countries can use it.”
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Meng Peipei