Light Speed ​​War

Chapter 21: A Shocking Situation

Five days later, when Zhou Yuan and his companions arrived in the capital, it was already 6:30 AM. Due to its faster rotation, Planet Tiancan 5e had only about 19.5 hours per day, less than Earth. The sun was a warm, yellowish yellow, giving a comfortable feeling. The four were in good physical condition and walked with a little effort. The streets were bustling with people and vehicles. Because of the vast land and sparse population, the roads were exceptionally wide, with cars coming and going one after another. The Tiancan people's vehicles were strange; they had a magnesium-aluminum alloy shell that, upon closer inspection, was thin and not heavy at all. The vehicles had no wheels, hovering about two centimeters above the ground, but emitted hot steam from their bottoms and spewed blue flames from their tails, moving quite quickly. There were many patrol aircraft in the sky, and armed police were clearly present on the roads, carrying laser guns.

Soon the four of them saw a tall building. When they arrived at the entrance, there were several security guards at the door. They were burly and tall.

Zhou Yuan took a few steps forward and said to one of the men who seemed to be in charge, "Excuse me, sir, is Duke Rick here?"

Who are you? Do you have an appointment?

“Oh, brother, it’s like this. We come from the island and accidentally discovered a miracle. With the guidance of the gods, we created a brand new multi-functional robot. So we’re volunteering to show our achievement to Duke Rick.”

"Really?" The security guard was somewhat skeptical, but the Celestials were particularly sensitive to gods, and since it was a miracle and a divine instruction, he dared not be negligent. He took out something that looked like a matchbox, pressed it a few times, and a voice came out: "Luke, what's the matter?"

“Duke, there are people from four islands who have volunteered to recommend their brand-new robots to you. They say these achievements are the result of miracles and divine guidance.”

"Oh, really? Let them in."

"Yes, Duke."

"Gentlemen, please undergo inspection first." The security guards stopped them. "What's in this box? Please open it and take a look."

"Big brother, this is our achievement, a brand new multi-functional robot," Xiao Jian said, opening the box to reveal a metal arm.

"Alright, go in. Duke Rick is on the third floor."

"Thank you, brother."

The four of them made it to the third floor without incident and found the sign.

Zhou Yuan knocked on the door and said, "Come in." A loud voice answered from inside.

As the four entered, they saw a mature, strong, and handsome man approaching them, holding a book in his hand.

"Welcome, welcome," Duke Rick said in a very approachable manner, his eyes bright and alert. He glanced at the four of them, and when he saw Wei Shan, he seemed to look at her a few more times.

“Duke Rick, excuse me, I am Lamb, and these three are my assistants: Meffin, Dolly, and York.”

“Let’s pray first,” Rick said, putting down his book. Zhou Yuan and the others followed behind Rick. Zhou Yuan glanced at the title and saw it was “Introduction to Robotics Algorithms.” Duke Rick, like Lisa, led them to the main hall to Bysol and Yaso.

After the prayers were finished, Duke Rick pointed to the box that Zhou Yuan and his group had brought, "Is this the brand-new multi-functional robot you were talking about?"

"Yes, Duke Rick."

Can we show it now?

“Of course,” Zhou Yuan nodded to Xiao Jian. Xiao Jian opened the box, inside lay a meticulously crafted and lifelike male robot resembling a Celestial Human. Its entire body was made of aluminum alloy, gleaming with a silvery-white sheen. The joints were perfectly rounded, and Duke Rick looked visibly surprised. This robot was more beautiful and refined than any on the market—no, even military robots. Rick didn't say a word, only thinking to himself. Zhou Yuan chuckled inwardly.

After taking the box, Xiao Jian pressed on the robot's head. The robot, which had been lying flat, suddenly sprang to its feet with a swift, graceful movement, standing firmly on its feet with an air of elegance. Rick was startled and involuntarily stepped back, his face showing surprise. So agile?

Zhou Yuan glanced at Rick and said to Xiao Jian, "Dolly, let the Duke see what Beta is capable of again."

"Yes."

So, Beta performed a series of seven jumps on one leg, a spin on one toe, a backflip with both legs, push-ups, sit-ups, and a mid-air jump... leaving Duke Rick speechless, his eyes then lighting up.

“Very good, very good. I want to hire you all, Mr. Rambo. You will be my first assistant, and these three will be your assistants. By the way, you said you obtained them from a miracle on the island?”

"Yes. The four of us love to search for miracles and to study them. Four years ago, one night, we got lost and fell into a deep cave. On the cave wall, there was a drawing of a robot, with a fairly detailed record of its functions and technology. Later, we escaped and, relying on our memory and the divine instructions on the wall, slowly figured out the technology. Only today are we showing you this brand-new robot prototype for the first time. I think this must be a gift from the god Thor, and I hope Duke Rick will be satisfied."

“I am very satisfied. Yes, it must be Thor’s blessing upon us.” Duke Rick did not think too much about it, nor did he seem to have any doubts, because the Celestials naturally attributed any inexplicable or miraculous phenomena to the arrangement and guidance of the gods. If there were any anomalies or miracles in this world, it must be Thor’s arrangement.

“We must utilize this robot’s extraordinary capabilities and technology to upgrade all of our robots. I also need to report to His Majesty Yaso and recommend that he mass-produce them for military use.”

“Duke Rick, because the materials and algorithms of this robot are incompatible with all our current robots, I suggest that we remanufacture it instead of upgrading the current robot.”

"Hmm, that makes sense. Wait, these robots are incredibly capable. How can we ensure their safety, you know, and prevent them from rebelling or turning against us?"

"Please rest assured, we will implant a security protocol at the very bottom of the robot's brain chip."

“Excellent. Rambo, there’s no need for formalities between us. You’re all members of the Royal Academy of Sciences now, so work hard. His Majesty and I will not treat you unfairly. By the way, I’ve recently become quite interested in robotics algorithms. You mentioned materials and algorithms earlier. Could you give a brief overview?”

"It's my honor. The robot's main material is magnesium-aluminum alloy, which you should know about, so I won't elaborate. The robot mainly consists of a mechanical structure, a control and drive system, a sensing system, and an interaction system. Motion mechanism, sensing, positioning, and control are the key technologies of this robot. Robotic movements generally exhibit structural symmetry, so the robot's legs must be symmetrical. To ensure transmission and accuracy, the structure of the robot's joint axes must be compact, while also ensuring the necessary output torque and speed. To enable the robot to perform complex movements, the legs and hands generally have 12 degrees of freedom, and each joint is driven by a motor. To avoid mechanical damage due to exceeding limits, there are hard limit switches and harmonic reducers at the joint axis rotation points. The robot's wrists have sufficient rigidity and strength, and to reduce backlash and improve transmission accuracy, a reliable transmission backlash adjustment mechanism is provided. The robot's sensing part uses..." The system organically integrates information from multiple sensors, performing cross-modal and cross-scale information registration and fusion. By processing information redundancy and complementarity from different sensors, it constructs a detection system covering almost all space and time. The basic idea of ​​robot localization is to construct a model of the surrounding environment while the robot determines its own position. This involves building models of dynamic objects using a local occupancy grid map, employing map difference technology to detect dynamic changes in the environment, and combining nearest-point iterative algorithms and particle filtering with a simultaneous localization and map creation method. The robot algorithm is quite complex, involving path planning, navigation, obstacle avoidance, control, vision system algorithms, and deep learning algorithms. For example, obstacle avoidance algorithms include genetic algorithms, neural network algorithms, and fuzzy algorithms. The control algorithm uses a heuristic random search differential evolution algorithm. Regarding robot behavior, an event-based cognitive mechanism is employed, with deep learning enabling self-awareness evolution.

Zhou Yuan spoke eloquently, and Duke Rick nodded repeatedly.

The following day, Duke Rick announced to His Majesty Yaso and the ministers at the morning court that the Royal Academy of Sciences had developed a new, flexible, and intelligent multi-functional robot. A good demonstration speaks louder than words; His Majesty Yaso and his ministers were astonished upon witnessing Beta's capabilities firsthand. Yaso immediately ordered the ministers of the military and industrial departments to secretly mass-produce this type of military robot.

"I will build robot warships and a robot army!" Yasuo proudly announced to his subjects.

These days, the most talked-about topics among the people of Tiancan, besides the Martian fleet, are the mysterious messengers of the gods. According to legend, the gods send messengers to Tiancan every 200 years, staying for about five days each time to hear reports from the king, inspect the human world, and guide the people of Tiancan. As the day of the messengers' arrival draws closer, the entire country is decorated with lanterns and banners welcoming the messengers, and the people of Tiancan have shaken off the gloom brought by the Martians, filling the air with joy.

Yaso, the de facto ruler of Tiancan, was naturally extremely busy. He personally oversaw everything from memorizing welcoming speeches and reports to the attire of himself and his ministers. Yaso knew this was arguably the greatest honor of his life as emperor; the last such honor belonged to his great-great-great-grandfather. The Tiancan civilization had developed remarkably rapidly over the past 200 years. Just over 200 years ago, they were an agrarian society; now, interstellar warships filled the skies, and their travel speed had reached 50% of the speed of light—a feat undoubtedly aided by divine revelation.

Early that morning, Yaso led his ministers to the altar, the altar of the Celestial Beings, a circular structure with a base diameter of 100 meters and a height of 50 meters, entirely constructed of magnesium alloy. The air seemed to freeze; everyone held their breath, awaiting the arrival of the divine messenger. Zhou Yuan was fortunate enough to accompany Duke Rick and participate in this sacred ceremony.