Engineer Cheol-woo Lee (18)
Toyo Motors was in the midst of a meeting related to the upcoming Tokyo Automobile Expo.
“……. This concludes the presentation of the GTC-3 model.”
The report to the person in charge of development of the GTC-3 model has come to an end.
As the number one in the industry, they have successfully completed the development of the new semi-mid-sized car model GTC-3 equipped with a hybrid engine, the GTC engine.
“It’s really great.”
“Wow, to be able to make this in such a short time. After all, our cars are not dead yet.”
“With this, we can take another leap forward and outrun latecomers by a wide margin.”
The executives who were listening to the presentation spoke one word at a time.
“Excellent.”
Satoshi Michibu, CEO of Toyo Motors, also said something.
“Dad, with this hybrid engine and this vehicle model, no one will be able to pass our toyo.”
“The company told me not to call him father.”
“Ah, sorry. CEO.”
Satoshi Koshiro of Toyo Motors, who has not matured yet, said.
“Hmm, you’re not the owner of this company yet. I gave you a chance because you’re blood, but know that it’s up to you to seize that opportunity.”
“Yes! I’m sorry, Father.”
“This guy.”
“ah…….”
He lowered his head.
“Okay, how are the preparations for the expo going? What about the trends of other companies?”
“First, Germany’s Auti plans to introduce a supercar with an innovative design. Also, Germany’s Mercedes-Benz plans to further enhance its brand image through advanced interior design and automation.”
“It’s obvious what they’re doing, a high-end strategy.”
Toyo Motors and the German automobile industry had different strategies.
Toyo Motors and Hyeonsung Motors were adopting a strategy of selling a lot at a low price, and the three German companies were adopting a strategy of selling less at a high price through a high-end strategy.
As a result, Toyo Motors has the highest sales ranking.
Toyo Motor had the technology and money, so it was possible to pursue a high-end strategy, but the cost risk of breaking through the walls of the three German companies was not high.
“Aside from those guys, are there any other guys who are a bit unusual?”
“there is.”
“where are you?”
“Sla Motors of America.”
“Sla Motors? The place that makes those electric cars?”
Sla Motors, headed by Elon Mansk, was one of the innovative American companies.
“Yes. That’s right. They say that they are about to release Tera-1, a fully electric vehicle. They say that they will introduce an automatic driving function using artificial intelligence.”
“Oh, you’re doing useless things. How can a car run on electricity, and can it afford the cost of batteries? How much does a battery cost?”
Michibu Satoshi said with a puzzled expression.
In fact, electric vehicles are still in the development stage, and technical skills are still lacking in various ways to make fully electric cars.
We had to catch the price of the battery first, and we had to improve the charging speed, which is the biggest disadvantage of electric cars.
It was a bonus that there was no charging station infrastructure.
“Yes. It is actually in the research phase, and it is meaningful to participate.”
“What’s there? Automatic driving using artificial intelligence? He’s talking nonsense. He’s again.”
“That’s right. It’s a ridiculous technology. How can a car drive alone? No matter how good the sensors are, there are so many variables. If it goes wrong, it can lead to a big accident. I think it’s just for bluffing. It seems to have been brought in.”
they got it wrong
Sla Motors was actually researching automatic driving using artificial intelligence. Of course, it wasn’t enough to run on the road yet. It was to the point where I appeared at the expo and did a good job.
In 2016, when artificial intelligence became known worldwide, it was a match between Google’s Go artificial intelligence AlphaGo and a professional Go player.
Currently in 2013. It was the point where there were three years left.
However, innovative companies in the US have already started developing artificial intelligence.
“That guy won’t be an opponent either, what did Hyunseong say they were doing?”
“That’s… Hyunseong is a little strange.”
“weird?”
“Yes. Apparently, according to the latest intelligence, they said they were also making a hybrid engine LKC like ours, but they suddenly changed the announcement section to ITE-X.”
“ITE-X?”
It was a word I had never heard before.
“Yes. That’s all I know. I haven’t been able to find out the details yet.”
“why?”
Toyo Motor had several sources of information. An informant was also planted in Hyeonseong, and the informant was handing over Hyeonseong’s information to Toyo Motors every moment.
However, when there was no information about ITE-X, CEO Satoshi was puzzled.
“They said it was changed the day before the submission by the International Exhibition Organization.”
“The reason is?”
“I haven’t been able to find out that far.”
Even if he was an informant, he was a low-level employee. The fact that team leader Seo changed the documents was a hushed atmosphere in Hyeonseong, so few people knew.
“…… It’s strange. There’s no information related to it, so you need to be a little careful.”
“Well, anyway. The engine doesn’t come out in a day or two. Isn’t it something that is being researched like Sla Motors?”
“I guess so.”
“Or, it could be a new vehicle model with the TT gear they recently invented. Or it could be a vehicle with increased interior space through the free vector gear.”
Information about TT gear and free vector gear was also obtained from them.
“Oh, did you contact the patent holder there? Why did you make the patent available only to Hyeonseong?”
The TT gear and free vector gear were technologies that could secure space in the vehicle.
Toyo Motors had no choice but to show interest.
“That’s…. Right now, the patent holder is said to be a researcher in Hyeonseong.”
“What else do you mean by that?”
If you were a researcher of Hyeon-seong, the patent should have been registered as Hyeon-seong’s, but that was not the case.
At that point, he had doubts.
“I don’t know the details, but anyway, the patent holder voluntarily entered the castle.”
“……? What are you doing?”
“I think it may have been lobbying in Hyeonseong.”
“Um……. He’s someone who’s so good that he’s lobbying in Hyunseong?”
“Isn’t that right? He’s the creator of innovative gear.”
“What is the name of the patent holder?”
“My name is Lee Cheol-woo.”
“Chulwoo Lee…”
Hearing Cheol-woo’s name, Satoshi Michibu felt an unknown anxiety.
* * *
Looking at the calendar, it was February 14, 2014, Valentine’s Day.
From noble mtl dot com
The point at which there are less than two weeks left until the expo will be held. Many researchers, salespeople, and executives from Hyeonseong have already departed for Japan to prepare for the expo.
“Mr. Cheol-woo. It’s finally the final test. Let’s start right away.”
And we were preparing for the final test to develop the ITE-X engine.
Development of the ITE-X engine started at the end of 2013.
It was a race against time.
However, the people at the research center run by team leader Seo were of one heart and one mind, so they prepared without leaving work.
As a result, I seemed to be able to narrowly match the time.
‘Is this finally the final test?’
My newly designed 5-stroke gasoline engine was designed and built from scratch.
2 months and 2 weeks. There have been many accidents in a very short time.
At first it went smoothly.
It took just one month to build the initial ITE-X engine, and it went into first test.
The result is, of course, failure.
Even then, I was about to be frustrated. but… … . It was different from the first failure. Without getting frustrated, I was able to quickly find the cause after much effort.
‘The formulation formula of the catalyst was wrong.’
The formulation formula for the explosion catalyst is slightly wrong. As a result of XRD analysis, it was found that the catalyst using nickel oxide as a base requires a little more NiO.
‘I’m glad I was able to find the cause.’
It was the opposite of the first two-administration agency ITE designed. It was a really fundamental problem, and I couldn’t find the cause.
But not this time.
Various problems popped up, but I was convinced that nothing was fundamentally wrong.
After solving the problem, I went to the second test.
‘Certainly the structure of the filter was correct. But I chose the wrong material.’
The second big problem was the problem of the filter that goes into the circulation function, which is the core of the 5-stroke engine. By designing and making the structure I made, I was able to filter out impurities that were definitely not needed.
There were no problems right away.
However, as a result of continuous stress tests, there was a disadvantage that the life of the filter ended quickly. only 3 days.
It was good enough data for testing and propaganda, but it shouldn’t have been
‘I never thought Team Leader Seo would do such a thing… … .’
After developing the ITE-X engine for a month, I didn’t know how team leader Seo changed the presentation section. Then, by chance, I heard from Researcher Jung.
‘Switching documents.’
It was different from what he said to me.
Team leader Seo did not proceed simply with the determination to take off his clothes. If things went wrong, it was an issue that had to be prepared for even claiming damages.
… … . Besides, even if things go well, it will be a break for team leader Seo.
‘Why did Team Leader Seo go to such lengths?’
No matter how much I asked, he never gave me an answer.
Then there was only one thing I could do.
I had to bring more than my fair share to team leader Seo. And I thought about how it could be done.
‘Commercialization.’
Research, not propaganda. The goal was changed to making a commercially viable engine, and as a result, it was necessary to extend the lifespan of the filter.
No matter how good the engine is, if you have to change the filter every 3 days, who will buy a car with that engine?
With that thought in mind, I tried to improve the lifespan of the filter and found the result.
As a result, the life of the filter became one year.
That was enough to be recognized as a consumable for the vehicle.
After that, problems like this popped up, and I kept going through fixes. Then, just in February, the ITE-X engine was completed.
‘At that time, I was thrilled.’
It was a very good engine in my opinion. No, it was a revolutionary engine beyond splendor.
You could stop there and prepare for the expo.
But I was even more greedy.
‘Let me show you. I! And what kind of place is Hyeonseong!’
It was decided to mount the ITE-X engine on the X-380, which has a futuristic design, TT gear, and free vector gear.
At first, team leader Seo was extremely reluctant. They say that they don’t have to go there and that time is running out.
Applying an engine to a vehicle, of course, was not something that could be done in a month.
However, the greatest strengths of the TT gear and the free vector gear were, of course, the utilization of space and the simplicity of design.
X-380 was easy to design by using 100% of TT gears and free vector gears.
Since the design is simple, I thought it would be easy to install a new engine, of course. It wasn’t easy, of course.
Fortunately, the test model of the X-380 was almost finished.
In the end, it was made in a short time called migration.
X-380 with ITE-X engines.
It deserves to be called the final king of future cars.
And now the X-380 vehicle was undergoing various tests on the test facility.
after a while
“It’s over. Mr. Lee Cheol-woo. All the test results came out as passing.”
Team leader Seo informed me of the test results.
“Let’s go now too. To Tokyo.”
All preparations have been completed.