Zhang Xiaolan patted her heart: "I was almost scared to death, in case the robot really becomes bad in the future, I will be one of the initiators." ”

She said this: "Xiaoqiang, tell me the truth, can the professor really achieve this goal?"

Niu Xiaoqiang smiled: "Why did he achieve this goal?"

Zhang Xiaolan asked rhetorically: "If he does not achieve this goal, it will be equivalent to the failure of the artificial intelligence project, so how can he explain to those who provide scientific research funds?"

Niu Xiaoqiang shook his head: "You don't understand what the Americans think, failure is not an unacceptable thing for them, especially in the high-tech field, failure can be said to be commonplace, they have money, as long as they are interested in a certain project, they will generously provide research and development funds, even if the project is only experimental and does not have practical value, they will still invest money." ”

Niu Xiaoqiang sighed when he said this: "Do you know why the United States' scientific research strength is so strong? It is because their rich class is very supportive of scientific research, this is a kind of cultural atmosphere, if it is placed in China, few people are willing to spend so much money on things that have no benefits, the reason why the United States is so strong is not without reason, we want to catch up with others, there are still many things to learn." ”

Zhang Xiaolan nodded: "This is reasonable, take our Boston University as an example, there are still people who sponsor people from the Department of Philosophy to live alone on a desert island, it is said that it is to study the psychological conditions of human beings after they leave society, which is simply unbelievable if it is placed in China." ”

Niu Xiaoqiang couldn't help but smile and said: "There are still many people in China who don't have enough to eat, where do they have the money and energy to engage in this kind of activity? Survival is the first need of human beings, and only when this need is met can other problems be explored." ”

At this time, Professor Watson spoke again, and the two hurriedly closed their mouths.

"Guys, I'm going to show you what the robot can do. ”

Professor Watson pulled out the key and opened the door to the safe. Everyone present craned their necks to look over. When the door to the safe opens, the robot's true face is revealed.

The robot is very sci-fi and has a metallic texture all over its body, which greatly satisfies those who come to the press conference. Even those who were a little disappointed with the simple functions of the robot before also nodded slightly in approval.

Regardless of whether the function of this robot is perfect or not, at least its appearance is still very good, which is very in line with the vast majority of people's perception of robots.

Professor Watson plugged the robot into a power source and turned on the laptop mounted on the robot's chest. Professor Watson tapped on the keyboard and explained, "I'm typing a command to the robot, and when it's done, it will walk out of the safe on its own, and it will also show the ability to go up and down the stairs." ”

The crowd waited with bated breath.

In a matter of moments, Professor Watson finished typing and stepped aside to let the robot run on its own.

The robot's tiny motors are running at full speed and making a "buzzing" sound, which is more in keeping with its sci-fi look, and reporters are turning their cameras to it to capture the news material.

Not long after the buzzing sound, the robot stepped out of its right leg, a little slowly. When it dragged the power cord out of the safe, the multi-purpose hall immediately burst into warm applause.

In any case, this robot can be regarded as a successful development. Although its functionality is still simple and the speed of walking is a bit slow, it is not easy enough. There are a lot of university professors here, and they ask themselves if they can't do it to this extent.

Some people may find it strange: after all, this is just a walking robot, so what's so strange?

It's not that simple.

Robotics is a system engineering, involving a lot of aspects, don't underestimate the difficulty.

Judging from the current scientific and technological strength, unless a large group is formed and the forces of all parties are gathered to work together, it is unrealistic to want to achieve the level of Professor Watson.

The reason why Professor Watson seemed to build the robot with great ease was because he received the help of Niu Xiaoqiang. Niu Xiaoqiang's ability is undoubted, and it is no exaggeration to say that he can stand up to a large team alone.

The first is the overall design part, which Niu Xiaoqiang completed alone, if it were replaced by someone else, he would definitely not be able to do it so easily.

The second is the hand-made process, the processing of various parts is done by him alone, and Professor Watson and Zhang Xiaolan just help out. Assembling these parts into a robot that can walk autonomously requires a lot of knowledge of physical mechanical engineering, and it is impossible to do this without relevant experience and a bright mind.

Speaking of programming, if Professor Watson had not received Niu Xiaoqiang's help in computing, it would have taken him at least several months to complete if he had worked alone. Even when it's done, there may be a number of problems that prevent the robot from functioning properly.

The calculation help provided by Niu Xiaoqiang is not simple, not to mention the terrifying amount of calculations, just a variety of physical formulas, which are not something that ordinary people can figure out.

It involves the transformation of various kinetic energy and variables, and without a deep accumulation and precipitation in physics, you may not even be able to figure out the formula, let alone the subsequent calculations.

It can be said very bluntly that without Niu Xiaoqiang's coordination and assistance, there would be no way to make the robot if it was replaced by anyone else.

The robot paused as it stepped out of the safe, then turned around and walked in the direction of the podium.

The infrared detector mounted on it has the same function as the radar, and is able to automatically detect obstacles in the surrounding area.

Professor Watson didn't explain how it works, but smiled and said, "This robot has the ability to automatically detect and avoid obstacles, and it will automatically walk to the designated position according to the program's settings." ”

As Professor Watson spoke, the robot had already walked to the bottom of the steps of the podium, and in the eyes of the crowd, it raised its right leg just a little higher than the steps.

Then the robot's right foot landed, its body made a forward movement, and after determining the center of gravity through calculation, it lifted its left leg, and then slowly lowered its left leg on the steps.

During this time, the robot makes subtle adjustments throughout its body to continue to maintain a stable center of gravity during leg lifting.