Controllable Fusion Experiment
In situations like this, with outsiders present, the level of embarrassment in their hearts had clearly risen by several levels.
"Mm, very good. What about the manufacturing cost?"
After giving everything a rough look, Killian nodded in satisfaction and then asked the person in charge beside him.
As for intelligence and related functions, with Baymax's learning software already in place, plus the newly upgraded learning-type central processor, Killian was not worried at all.
As long as it was a robot-like product under Pioneer Technology, including Baymax itself, it would stay connected to the network twenty-four hours a day and receive regular backend data updates.
One purpose of that was to collect user experience data and optimize the product so customers would have an even better experience. Another purpose was to keep upgrading Baymax's software.
At present, if Baymax's hardware were compared to a smartphone, it would basically count as a top-of-the-line configuration with ten terabytes of storage and 512 gigabytes of memory. The only problem was that the operating system was still like the very first generation of Android, far too outdated.
There was still enormous room for future updates, so they needed to keep collecting user data, compiling it into large-scale datasets, and using that to feed Baymax so it could continue iterating and evolving.
And because Baymax could handle software updates for robotic products at any time, Killian's side had also saved a huge amount of labor cost in later-stage maintenance and real-time updates.
You could say Baymax alone was doing the work of dozens of teams, while also taking on all kinds of other company business at the same time.
That was also why Killian had kept expanding the R&D teams while investing almost nothing into later maintenance work.
With a ready-made artificial intelligence already in hand, only an idiot would keep spending effort on all that thankless work.
"As for cost, because our original goal for this line was to create a civilian companion robot that everyone could afford..."
"We made certain reductions in the technology package. Aside from the synthetic biomimetic cellular skin, it uses comparatively lower-cost rechargeable graphene batteries, a consumer-grade low-end processor, a complete internal cleaning system, and touch simulation systems."
"Taken together, the production cost for one unit is around 5,000 dollars. If network coverage becomes fully widespread in the future, we could even eliminate the processor and touch simulation system completely and switch to a network-connected mode instead. That would conservatively reduce the cost by another 1,000 to 2,000 dollars."
After hearing Killian's question, the person in charge thought for a moment and then gave his report.
Hearing that, Killian nodded with satisfaction.
Although the mind control chip could guarantee the loyalty of these project heads, it could not determine their personal abilities or their attitude toward work.
Clearly, the man in front of him was not particularly impressive when it came to combat robot R&D, but when it came to these civilian companion robots, his potential was enormous.
There were even some ideas that made Killian feel ashamed. After all, despite being shaped by the internet explosion of his previous life and countless veteran online degenerates, he still had not thought of as much as this man had.
Still, because of that, Killian also began considering changing the man's responsibilities.
The robotics division was simply too large for him. Killian could not let him manage an entire field the way Samuel managed biological weapons development.
Leaving aside whether the man even had that kind of energy, in terms of pure ability, he simply did not measure up to Samuel or Otto.
If the same problems had been placed in front of those two, they would have gone to find solutions themselves rather than drag Killian over and explain how difficult everything was.
He was the boss. The funding was already unlimited. Since the project had been handed over to you, then you were supposed to take full responsibility for it. If every problem still required him to step in personally, then what was the point of having you as the project lead?
Still, Killian did not blame him.
It was simply that Killian himself had placed expectations on the man that did not match his actual ability.
As long as people were used in the right place, that was enough.
"Very good. Finish the final round of testing on your side, confirm that there are no problems, and then submit everything to the office so we can begin preparing for the next product launch."
After patting the man on the shoulder, Killian gave his final instructions and then walked out alone.
At the current stage, Terminators could not bring him direct revenue, but the service-type companion robots derived from Terminator technology were, according to company projections, expected to bring them reputation points on a level not inferior to Baymax.
Especially now, as coverage in mid-sized and large cities continued expanding, Baymax sales had not declined, but they had started to level off.
After all, the quality of Pioneer Technology's products was simply too good. A single product could practically last for decades. The last kind of company that used to make things at that level had mostly gone out of business.
But for Killian, none of that mattered.
If he was going to make a product, then he was going to make it properly from the start. Instead of selling one version after another with constant cut-down revisions, then using software updates to make old hardware obsolete so customers would be forced to replace their devices and be harvested again and again, it was better to make the best possible version from the very beginning so that customers upgraded because they genuinely wanted to.
Besides, if he was still out here cutting corners and harvesting consumers for that little bit of money, then having such an enormous black-tech system would be a complete waste.
Any random technology release could already earn him huge amounts of reputation points.
Not to mention the T-0 series enhancement drugs, which had already passed medical review and were simply waiting for official release. Killian was certain that once those hit the market, their sales would be no weaker than Baymax's.
For Killian, the launch event was also about time.
...
As Killian's side finished up, time continued passing little by little.
Pioneer Technology as a whole kept developing rapidly and in an orderly way.
During that period, because Pioneer Technology's products had practically transformed every city they touched, places like New York and Washington had all undergone major development changes.
But the fastest growth of all had taken place in Miami, the city in Florida where Pioneer Technology was based.
Because Pioneer Technology was there, more and more people gradually started settling nearby.
Anyone with eyes could tell that Pioneer Technology was developing this place as its true base of operations.
And if that was the case, then Miami would naturally be the city where its technologies were rolled out first.
Hadn't many local residents already posted online about 5G signals before 5G had even officially launched? Back then, because Pioneer Technology had not made any public statement, everyone just treated them as attention-seekers.
But now things were different.
After Pioneer Technology's second product launch, more and more people realized that the area around Pioneer Technology was basically pure gold. It was better to move there now while fewer people had noticed. Even if they did not plan to live there forever, they could still sell at a huge profit later.
And according to some people, Pioneer Technology headquarters had recently started importing large quantities of steel-like materials again, apparently for the production of new robots.
Because of that, Miami and even the whole state of Florida saw their GDP surge yet again.
And among all that, the most exciting news was that Pioneer Technology had already publicly announced that it would hold a new round of product launches at the end of the month.
This time, before invitations had even been sent out, chief editors from major global media outlets had already rushed over with their teams overnight, afraid that arriving too late would cost them better positions.
Many of them were booking nearby hotels for a full month at a time.
For a while, all the nearby hotels were fully booked. Later on, even tents sold out, which was enough to show just how massive Pioneer Technology's influence had become.
Fortunately, with Lisa coordinating things and the local government fully supporting the process, everything was still moving forward steadily without any major incidents.
But compared with the upcoming launch event, what really gripped Killian's attention was the progress inside the lab.
"Boss, you're here."
Inside the laboratory, Dr. Otto stood ramrod straight and greeted Killian with a serious expression as he entered.
"Mm. How's it going?"
After hearing Otto, Killian asked directly.
"I have failed to live up to your expectations, boss. I failed twice. The first and second experiments both failed because I was not yet fully familiar with the process and made mistakes in a few places."
"This technology is still too advanced for our era, especially the room-temperature superconducting materials. Before you gave me the relevant support, boss, I almost could not believe such a material could be artificially synthesized."
"And then there's the advanced high-confinement control system. It was precisely because of that that, even though the earlier ignition experiments failed, there were no severe consequences. To be honest, it's unbelievable. Sometimes I even wonder whether there are aliens behind you."
"But please rest assured. We have thoroughly summarized the lessons from those failures and already eliminated all suspicious hidden risks in advance."
"I believe this time we will definitely succeed, and when that happens, this alone will be enough to push us, and perhaps all of humanity, into the level of an interstellar civilization."
Hearing Killian's question, Otto apologized sincerely.
After all, every raw material required for controlled fusion demanded an enormous amount of money. Every failed attempt meant that hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars were simply burned away.
Forget whether Killian would stop trusting him if this kept happening. Even if Killian still trusted him, Otto himself was starting to doubt himself a little.
"It's fine. You've already done an amazing job. Being able to reverse-engineer a controlled fusion power source from a compact controlled nuclear fuel cell and scale it up like this in such a short time is already remarkable."
Killian patted him on the shoulder and comforted him.
That was right.
The controlled fusion technology they were researching now had been reverse-engineered from the controlled nuclear energy battery inside the T-800.
But although both were energy technologies, scaling up a miniaturized system into a large one was still extremely difficult.
It was like knowing how a battery was made, then suddenly being asked to build a power plant.
Those were not the same thing.
As far as Killian was concerned, for Otto to take the nuclear battery blueprint and reverse-engineer it into the giant controlled fusion reactor now standing before him in just one month was already extremely impressive.
And according to Baymax's projections, the success probability this time was very high, over ninety percent, which was why Killian had personally come to observe.
After all, the energy problem had always been one of humanity's major headaches.
Even now, while there was still plenty of oil, people were increasingly searching for a cleaner energy source because of the pollution that emissions caused to the ozone layer and the environment.
A controlled fusion reactor was exactly that kind of technology. Not only would it avoid various forms of pollution, it also would not carry the same uncontrollable risk of a full meltdown that conventional nuclear reactors did if an accident occurred.
You could say that in the original Marvel storyline, Tony Stark had used this energy technology to restore Stark Industries after the massive losses caused by abandoning the weapons division.
As for the money lost in previous failures, Killian could afford that kind of burn.
To put it bluntly, even if his company's liquid cash reserves ran dry, Ross in the military, Kennedy in government, and the others would all practically rush to bring him more money themselves.
After hearing Killian's words, Otto only smiled faintly, then turned back toward the giant superconducting Tokamak device in front of him and began carrying out the final adjustments according to the already finalized revised plan.
Once everything was ready, and at Otto's order, deuterium and tritium fuel were injected into the vacuum chamber at the core of the Tokamak device in preparation for the third experiment.
"Fuel injection complete."
After a short while, once all preparations were finished, one of the assistants beside the main console reported to Otto.
"Laser igniter preheating. Power locked. Preparing ignition. Ten, nine, eight, seven..."
"..."
"Three, two, one. Ignite."
Another assistant looked toward Dr. Otto. After Killian signaled his approval and Otto nodded, the assistant immediately pressed a sequence of complex buttons on the control panel while counting down.
Hummmm!!!
In an instant, everyone felt an irritating humming vibration emanate from the giant superconducting Tokamak device. But that sensation vanished almost immediately. What replaced it was a deep, nearly inaudible rumble spreading through the room.
It was like the sound from a newly assembled silent computer tower.
Aside from that, there was no obvious abnormality.
"Ultra-high-temperature ignition successful. Fuel plasma conversion beginning now."
"Temperature readings are rising steadily. Internal device reactions are intensifying. Data increase is completely normal. Core vacuum chamber temperature has reached the first preset target. The first critical point has been reached with an energy gain factor q-value of 0.006, and it is still climbing."
As the superconducting Tokamak device successfully ignited, the assistant monitoring the data panel became visibly tense. Even giving those simple data reports left him drenched in sweat.
(End of Chapter)
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