Chapter 40: Chip
Now in possession of new Clone bodies and with his consciousness-link quota more than ample, Li Qingsong was feeling flush. He immediately assigned ten thousand Clones to chip research and development, determined to achieve a breakthrough in automation in the shortest time possible.
These ten thousand Clones were subsequently divided into several large teams. One team researched capacitors and resistors, another researched transistors, one studied materials, another chemical processing, and one team focused on chip architecture—in other words, the patterns for assembling the transistors.
These all constituted the hardware division. The final group of Clones was assigned to research software.
Li Qingsong needed to develop a programming language that matched his current manufacturing capabilities.
After all, hardware was useless without software. Only with versatile, custom-tailored software could these chips be adapted to a multitude of different industrial scenarios.
Inside the massive laboratory, ten thousand Clones were busy at work. They still followed their previous research model: whenever one Clone made progress, the information was instantly synchronized with all the others.
Under these circumstances, research and development on these primitive, simple chips progressed at a blistering pace.
Soon, the first batch of capacitors and resistors was produced in the laboratory.
Each was about five millimeters long and two millimeters in diameter, as small as a grain of rice.
The Clones carefully removed them, installed them on test equipment, and meticulously measured their performance. They then continuously adjusted and optimized the manufacturing process.
After about a month, the first batch of individual components that met Li Qingsong’s requirements had been produced.
Then, in one of the rooms, the final assembly work began.
Dozens of Clones stood in a row, each wearing magnifying glasses. With tweezers in one hand and a soldering gun in the other, they soldered the rice-sized components onto the circuit boards one by one. Then, using wires as fine as a human hair, they painstakingly connected the small parts according to the predetermined design.
It was an incredibly difficult task.
The Clones had to keep their bodies rigid and their arm movements extremely precise. A bit too much solder could cause a short circuit, while too little could result in a weak connection. They also needed to maintain immense concentration.
A single circuit board required soldering over a thousand of these rice-sized components, all of which had to be interconnected.
Which component was soldered where, and which component needed to connect to which other—not a single mistake was permissible. One error, and the chip would fail.
Consequently, Li Qingsong had to divert the brainpower of an additional one hundred Clones and channel it all into this single task, just to keep the soldering Clones from becoming dizzy and overwhelmed.
After a full day of intense work, the first batch—several dozen "chips"—was finally complete.
Compared to the first-generation chips from human history, the ones Li Qingsong was now producing were undoubtedly far more advanced.
For one, they didn’t use paper tape or magnetic tape as storage media. Instead, they used something called a "magnetic drum" to store data.
This device was essentially a cylindrical metal rod coated with magnetic material. Binary data was stored on its surface in the form of magnetized spots.
This way, data could be stored on the drum for a long time even if the chip lost power. Once powered on again, the chip could simply reread the data.
A single metal rod could store about 1 KB of data, which was more than enough for the current stage.
After manufacturing the first batch of thirty "chips" and burning the primitive program onto the metal rods, Li Qingsong immediately directed the Clones to take them to a metal casting production line.
It was a screw production line. Previously, this line required fifteen Clones on duty at all times to ensure its smooth operation.
One Clone was responsible for loading materials, another for adjusting the conveyor belt’s speed, and yet another for sorting screws of different specifications, directing them to two separate subsequent processes.
Now, Li Qingsong had the thirty "chips" installed at various points along the production line.
One chip was responsible for counting the number of screws passing on the conveyor belt per minute. It would then read the belt’s current speed and, using its internal program, calculate whether the belt was moving too fast or too slow. Finally, it would automatically issue commands to adjust the speed.
As a result, the Clone who used to stand there all day, dedicated solely to adjusting the conveyor belt’s speed, could be relieved of duty and reassigned to another post.
Another chip could read the instrument panel to determine the forging furnace’s current temperature. Based on this reading, it would automatically speed up or slow down the fuel conveyor belt.
And so, the Clone previously responsible for monitoring the furnace and adding fuel could also be reassigned.
Yet another chip could read data from a small scale to automatically identify the specifications of each passing screw, deciding which subsequent process line to divert it to.
The Clone in charge of sorting screws could now be reassigned as well.
After these dozens of "chips" were installed, the production line was started up again.
Li Qingsong then saw that the production line, which had previously required fifteen Clones to operate, could now be run by just four. And its operational efficiency was even higher than before!
After all, even when working at full capacity, the Clones still needed to sleep, eat, and rest. Chips were different. As long as they had power and didn’t break, they could work until the end of time, until the very end of the Cosmos!
The automation of the first production line was a resounding success.
Elated, Li Qingsong immediately made a decision.
’We need to mechanize the mass production of capacitors, resistors, transistors, magnetic drums, connecting wires, and circuit boards. Then, we need to mechanize their mass assembly and install them in every base, every factory, and on every single production line!’
Thus, the ten thousand Clones who had been researching chip technology were immediately repurposed, becoming the workforce of Li Qingsong’s first chip factory.
It took over two months, but the Clones managed to build several new production lines. A steady stream of components began to flow from them, all converging on a final line for encapsulation.
There, they were fitted with an iron casing, and the interior was filled with argon gas. This made them dust-proof, shock-resistant, and rust-proof, greatly extending their operational lifespan.
The most common type of chip measured 10 x 8 x 3 cm and could handle the most basic tasks, such as taking readings and performing simple calculations.
However, in addition to these, Li Qingsong also manufactured larger chips.