Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On the 10th of January 20X9, in the research and development plant of Xing Hai Technologies located inside Bao Shan Industrial Park, after a grueling development schedule of 45 days, the prototype of the “Wa-Wah: first generation” cleaning robots had been successfully created!
The speed of the development process was out of this world! Usually, it took about three months to develop this type of robot. But the team, including Su You Jie and Zhou Kun, only took half of that time.
There were three reasons why their development process was so efficient and fast: Number one, the standard of this team was good and they were capable. Each one of them could be called a master of their skills; Number 2, the product that they had to develop was based on a blueprint design that Chen Jin had already prepared, so they skipped the design process and the debate on demonstrability. This shaved off at least half a month’s time; Number 3, in these 40-odd days of the development process, Chen Jin had helped them resolve some considerable technical difficulties. This allowed the process to continue unhindered.
For example, the robot’s “cleanliness algorithm”, which was based on a high definition (HD) camera system, was a challenge that the team had been stuck on for a few days. It was different from the traditional cleaning robots that used lasers to sweep over the layout of the room before cleaning evenly again. In a “Wa-wah” robot’s cleaning process, it would confirm whether the floor was clean or not by judging and comparing the HD photos taken through its camera. There were many possible working scenarios that they had to consider.
For example, the material, color, and complicated patterns of the flooring. Some of the patterns might be mistaken as dirt. How would the robot deal with that? How would it deal with issues like human obstacles or larger objects blocking its way? What would it do if it was a carpeted room or if the layout of the room was weird? What was the level of cleanliness it must achieve before it could decide that the room was truly clean? In addition, what was the path that it should take when cleaning that was the most efficient, energy-saving, and also allowed it to achieve the highest level of cleanliness? All of these issues had to be resolved via the program’s algorithm.
It was too easy to create a robot with sweeping and mopping functions. The real challenge laid in how to increase its efficiency in cleaning and how to design it to clean in a smarter way. At the same time, they had to take into consideration a low carbon emission so that it was environmentally friendly. After all, it could only work for about 180 minutes non-stop. Hence, the hardware issues were not real issues!
The algorithm software was the primary issue.
Su You Jie said, “Chief Chen, the operational style of the robot that you designed is too advanced. Compared to the traditional LDS laser scheme, the HD photo comparison technology is one entire era ahead. Recently, I’ve been learning AI graphics algorithms, but it will take me at least a week to start programming.” The technical path that they were about to take was one that had never been tried by other companies. Hence, there would definitely be a great amount of time lost on trial and error.
However, Chen Jin gave him an idea for the solution. “It’s very simple to confirm whether the floor has been cleaned or not. When “Wa-Wah” is used for the first time, it will employ the traditional method of cleaning the surface evenly. It will clean up to 10 times, or even more, until the room is at its cleanest! Then, it will take a photo of the room in its cleanest state and store it for future comparison. Now, no matter what room its used in, it will have an ideal state of cleanliness for reference. There is no need to create a large data system for the photos. Of course, if something changes in its working environment, it will return to its initial starting stage and clean until it has a perfect example of cleanliness.”
Su You Jie nodded. “This idea would work for at least 90% or more of our home use customers. It can use the results after its first cleaning as a prime example. If the customers were housekeeping companies or other commercial enterprises, we would have to do some custom modifications.” Just like that, Su You Jie had resolved the problem of basing the “cleanliness algorithm” on a photo comparison method without a hitch. But, he was immediately met with a new problem.
That was the problem of the “route algorithm.” After confirming the portions of the floor that are dirty via the “cleanliness algorithm,” how would the robot plan the best route so that it could quickly and efficiently clean the dirty spots? The traditional method of cleaning the room evenly would not work. The “Wa-Wah” robot must be able to focus heavily on cleaning the dirty spots as well as do “light cleaning” on the already clean portions. Just like a human, it had to be able to judge and make appropriate choices. Only then would it be able to achieve the highest level of cleanliness. At the same time, it would save both time and energy.
Su You Jie had been stuck on this “route algorithm” for four or five days without any hint of a solution. The challenge with this algorithm was that it had to visualize the layout of the room in 3D based on the distribution of the rubbish in the photos. Then, it had to construct a mathematical model and derive a logical working route from it. This entire process had been extremely vexing.
Chen Jin took a print-out on which dense lines of mathematical formulas were written and presented it to Su You Jie. It was the algorithm. After Su You Jie finished reading it, he became excited. His eyes were full of shock as if he had been suddenly enlightened. “So it’s like this? This is so brilliant; it’s simply perfect!” Turning to look at Chen Jin, he said, “Chief Chen, did you derive this routing algorithm? You’re really too amazing!” He was full of worship for Chen Jin.
“No, no,” Chen Jin waved his hands, “An engineer from my dad’s company gave this to me after I raised this issue. He spent about an hour writing this for me.” Actually, Alice used less than a second to solve this little problem in an instant.
“An hour?!” With his mouth hanging open in astonishment, Su You Jie exclaimed, “This expert must be out of this world, he’s definitely the expert of experts!” However, he thought about the commercial aircraft company that Chen Jin’s father worked at, which was the only company in Z country to create domestic airliners. It was prolific with many extremely capable people. Solving this little problem of a “route algorithm” was, of course, no big deal at all. Su You Jie could not help but sigh deeply. “Even if you think you are the best, there will always be someone better. I only have this little bit of knowledge; there is still a lot of room for improvement.” He wondered silently in his mind, Ah, I don’t know; when will I get to that level of expertise?
After some big issues had been resolved with the aid of the mysterious expert from the aircraft company, on the 10th of January, the prototype of the “Wa-wah: first generation” cleaning robot had been successfully created. Then, they quickly found a room to conduct a trial cleaning.
The testing site was a deluxe suite of four bedrooms and two living rooms that Chen Jin had arranged for Su You Jie and his team to live in. It was located near the industrial park, and Chen Jin had rented it for his team with a monthly rent of $8,500. This suite was rarely cleaned and happened to be very dirty.
Operator Zhang Zhi Wei commanded, “Wa-Wah, start work!”
The “Wa-Wah” robot entered its automatic work mode. Its roller wheels, located on its underside, started to rotate. Using LDS to conduct a 360-degree scan, it mapped out the entirety of the room. After confirming its starting point, the high-speed brushless motor started up and triggered the rotation of the floating main brush. It swept up the usual seen rubbish on the ground into its internal rubbish storage via the rotating vacuum unit on its chassis. In this working state, the “Wa-Wah” robot bore no difference from the traditional cleaning robot.
After three minutes, the regular variety of rubbish had been cleared, after which was clearing the dust and stubborn stains. This would require the use of mopping, so the robot’s two mechanical arms lifted a rod-shaped brush. The brush was wrapped with a thick, wet towel and the rod could then rotate with the towel on it.
When it came to a dirty spot, “Wa-Wah” only had to lower the rod and let the brush rotate as it touched the floor. Hence, “mopping” would commence. As this was its first time cleaning, it also employed the traditional route. It changed its batteries twice and went through 10 brushes as it cleaned the room 10 times. The floor of the entire suite shone so brightly it cast light against their shadows.
After using some instruments to take a series of measurements, Xiao Xiao said excitedly, “Chief Chen, 99.6% of the rubbish on the floor has been cleared; this is very close to our design target!”
Yang Chiu Ying said with great feeling, “Clean, it’ so clean!”
“I’ve never seen such a clean room.”
“This is only the prototype trial. There’s still a lot of room for improvement. If it can clean 99.6% of all rubbish, it’s not impossible to fulfill 99.9%!”
With a big wave of his hand, Chen Jin said, “Continue with the testing. We’ll all wear our shoes inside and dirty the room. Let’s do a few more trials!”
“Yes!”
Everyone wore their shoes and trampled around the room, leaving dust, dirt, and mud all over the floor. Without wasting any time, the second trial began. Using the all new “smart cleaning model,” the robot started to do “focus cleaning” as it planned a smarter working route. After an hour, 99.6% of all rubbish on the floor had been thoroughly cleared away. The results were even cleaner and better than the first trial. After which was the third, fourth and fifth trial. For every trial, the figure never dropped below 99.7%
Su You Jie said with great enthusiasm, “Chief Chen, it’s a success! We’ve successfully developed this model of cleaning robot!”
Zhou Kun waved his fist in triumph, “What smooth going, this is too unexpected! It feels so good to succeed on our first try!”
“Good, this feels really good!”
“Hahahaha ~ !”
Everyone laughed loudly; they had the utmost confidence in the future of the potential market for this cleaning robot!