Chapter 538 Getting Back on Track (Patreon)

Transformers Begin : Table of Content/Chapter List

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Sun Cheng's mood had been quite good lately. Shortly after the hurricane had ended, he disappeared briefly again, this time under the pretext of a business trip.

Returning to Nubra Island, he brought Safeguard with him and supervised the robots in rebuilding Base Three.

With Safeguard's supervision, Sun Cheng didn't stay long on the island and quickly returned to Xia Country.

After this delay, the development plans that had been semi-stagnant in reality had now picked up speed again.

With the official launch of the Intelligent Mechanics Laboratory, his cooperation with the Xia Country Government entered a honeymoon period.

Future Mechanical Technology Corporation had been established for over two months now. Following his graduation, Sun Cheng had recruited a group of recent graduates from major universities in South Capital with high academic qualifications.

The Level-2 National Defense Military Production License he desired was delivered not long after Colonel Liu Nianyuan took two sets of Semi-Exoskeletal Mechanical Armor.

Accompanying the license were more than twenty retired soldiers who had undergone specialized training and were capable of working in key defense research units.

Just like the Intelligent Mechanics Laboratory, the offices of Future Mechanical Technology Corporation were also located in the Ningjiang District.

Due to special consideration from the Equipment Department, they were given a 47-acre piece of land in the core area of the Ningjiang High-Tech Park for the construction of a dedicated factory for manufacturing mechanical exoskeleton armor.

In comparison to the massive production bases that covered thousands of acres, 47 acres might not seem like much. However, for a factory specializing in producing military mechanical exoskeleton armor, it was sufficient.

What was most crucial was that most of the nearby factories belonged to several domestic defense enterprises, making it a trusted security area.

The specialized exoskeleton factory was constructed by a state-owned construction contractor. Given its relatively small scale, it was expected to be completed in just one and a half months, with the first steel structure workshop being finished soon.

It was clear that the country was in a hurry, but Sun Cheng could understand why.

The political situation in Central Asia had been turbulent since the beginning of the year. As a battleground for major powers, everyone understood the principle of "no progress means regression."

Moreover, in recent years, the United States had been returning to the Asia-Pacific region strategically and had been stirring up trouble in the vicinity of Xia Country. They even had a hand in it personally in many cases.

Therefore, the pressure on the country in terms of military preparations was increasing day by day.

Sun Cheng had produced a total of four sets of Semi-Exoskeletal Mechanical Armor, with two sets sent to the Equipment Department for testing.

The other two sets were kept in the newly established Intelligent Mechanics Laboratory.

He himself had been staying at the Intelligent Mechanics Laboratory recently, helping with testing and attempting to improve the crude version of the Semi-Exoskeletal Mechanical Armor he had originally developed.

Mechanical exoskeleton armor, including the one Sun Cheng had produced, was still at a relatively early stage in terms of design. They all consisted of three main parts: the torso, leg units, and dual arm units.

The core of Sun Cheng's exoskeleton armor was the part that covered the front and back of the chest. The front had three to five horizontal and vertical steel shafts, as well as several soft nylon straps, mostly serving as stabilizers. The back had a mechanical spine with several steel shafts and nylon straps.

The mechanical spine could be considered the core of this exoskeleton armor, with two lithium-air batteries fixed somewhere on it. Inside, there were highly complex circuits and drive systems.

In addition, there were three attachment points on the mechanical spine. Two were located in the upper back, and one was at the tailbone. The two upper attachment points could be used to attach additional equipment when needed, such as large external pouches or weapon units. The attachment point at the tailbone was for an external control pack.

The control pack was placed at the waist to allow the wearer to control, activate, and operate various functions of the exoskeleton armor.

The leg units mainly consisted of steel shafts and nylon straps, with four small thrust nozzles on the feet.

The dual arm units also consisted of several steel shafts and nylon straps. Each arm had two attachment points for weapon units.

This version of the Semi-Exoskeletal Mechanical Armor, which Sun Cheng referred to as 'Test Model 1', was a simplified version based on the latest generation of HULC exoskeleton from Boston Dynamics Corporation. It was still using the codename 'Test Model 1' because it had not been fully developed yet, and its structure was actually quite simple.

Even if you excluded the full electric drive system and two Lithium-Air Batteries, the rest of the cost was not even ten thousand Xia Yuan.

"I'm ready!"

After manufacturing the 'Test Model 1', Sun Cheng had conducted several simple tests on his own to ensure there were no issues before sending two sets to Liu Nianyuan and his team.

However, after the Intelligent Mechanics Laboratory started running, in addition to the fixed research projects, further refinement and improvement of the 'Test Model 1' exoskeleton armor became one of the ongoing projects.

Without interfering with other research projects in the lab, Sun Cheng had personally selected a team of 27 researchers.

The entire team consisted mostly of recent graduates from several key technical universities in South Capital. However, he had also poached two doctoral students specializing in mechanical manufacturing and automation from Professor Chen Yuan's group.

The group of people was currently having a great time testing the two 'Test Model 1' exoskeleton armors.

"Test Model 1 Exoskeleton Armor, 17th test, wearer - Wang Jun, inspectors - Liu Yiming, Liu Jun! Prepare to start..."

Sun Cheng stood quietly to the side, watching a team of young researchers around his age help a researcher put on the several kilograms heavy exoskeleton armor for the 17th test.

This time, the wearer was a young man named Wang Jun. Just out of college, he was excited as it was his first time wearing the exoskeleton armor.

With his feet on the chassis of the mechanical legs, his back pressed against the mechanical spine, and his hands attached to the mechanical arms, the onlookers helped Wang Jun put on the iron gauntlets and secured them, producing a series of clicking sounds as the fasteners locked into place.

Not far away, four cameras recorded all the action meticulously.

"It's on. Let's start with some simple movements!"

"Alright!"

Wang Jun held back his excitement, made an OK gesture to the researchers around him, and then lowered his head to open the control pack at his waist.

The controls inside the pack were straightforward, with only three different buttons for start, stop, and full-power drive. Given that operating the controls would be challenging with the exoskeleton armor on, there was plenty of space between the buttons.

Wang Jun had received basic training before putting on the exoskeleton armor, and he had also observed other researchers' tests over the past few days. So, he had some experience.

After pressing the start button inside the control pack and sealing it back up, a buzzing mechanical sound accompanied his rapid straightening.

"Start with a few simple movements!"

Someone reminded him from the side.

"Alright!"

Wang Jun responded and then moved his fingers, twisted his wrists, and the iron gauntlets on the mechanical arms perfectly synchronized with his motions. The other researchers around, who hadn't worn exoskeleton armor for testing yet, clenched their fists and looked on with excitement in their eyes.

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 539: Trial Type 1