CHAPTER 278: CHAPTER 276 SOLVING JOINT PROBLEMS

Regarding the surge in vegetable production, Chen Xin wasn’t too rushed to deal with it. As long as the vegetables aren’t harvested, keeping them on the hydroponic trays will prevent spoilage, though their taste might become tougher.

However, this matter can’t be left unattended indefinitely. While thinking about how to improve the Exoskeleton, Chen Xin was also considering how to handle the spike in vegetable output.

Although there are more people in the shelter now compared to before, leading to increased consumption, it’s negligible compared to the massive production increase.

After all, we’re talking about nearly two or three thousand pounds of vegetables combined. According to Chen Xin’s previous agreement with the SWAT team, a quarter of it needs to be traded to them, earmarking about one-tenth for the eight people in the shelter, and the current chickens and fish can consume a portion, but more than half still remains, with at least over 1,500 pounds of vegetables left to be dealt with.

If it was before the disaster, taking 1,500 pounds of vegetables to the market might have sold out in a day or two, not a problem at all.

In these post-disaster times, although the vegetables are in high demand and valuable, Chen Xin could easily find buyers if he wanted to sell them. He just doesn’t want to exchange them for a bunch of things he has no use for.

But desire is one thing, necessity is another. Chen Xin still has to find a way to handle over a thousand pounds of vegetables, especially since he brought sweet potato seedlings from his hometown, needing to clear a layer of planting trays in the greenhouse for planting. Chen Xin couldn’t allow these current vegetables to occupy the trays any longer.

Moreover, the expansion of planting area in the greenhouse, leading to doubled output, necessitates finding a route for the increased monthly production.

The SWAT team trades can indeed scale up a bit, but considering the limited potential of items that can be exchanged, Chen Xin might just swap some shelter rations and living supplies each month.

And this portion of things could also be traded with others, especially since Chen Xin is cooperating with the country; although other items might be challenging, food and living supplies can always be obtained when Chen Xin asks.

After weighing the pros and cons, Chen Xin decided to let Li Yulong take the surplus to sell in his trading market, apart from increasing the fixed trade with the SWAT team.

This decision supports Li Yulong’s trading market by adding fresh vegetables to the list of available goods, helping the market establish a better foothold.

Moreover, it’s seen as an investment; since these vegetables can’t be exchanged for anything Chen Xin needs right now, using them to assist Li Yulong might yield greater returns in the future.

It also provides a means to absorb the monthly increase in vegetable production, preventing the need to find new outlets later.

After learning of Chen Xin’s decision, Mo Qingyan didn’t express much opinion. She merely confirmed the crop harvesting time in the greenhouse and said no more.

Faced with Mo Qingyan’s indifference, Chen Xin felt a sense of helplessness. But with his parents around, it was difficult for him to address relationship issues. Moreover, he had always regarded Mo Qingyan as a friend without developing thoughts of surpassing friendship, so he just shelved the matter temporarily, giving it cold treatment.

After resolving these issues, Chen Xin continued to focus his energy on improving the mechanical structure of the Exoskeleton, as this was the matter he was most dedicated to at present.

Regarding the Exoskeleton’s insufficient joint flexibility, Chen Xin first adjusted the range of motion for each joint, increasing the movable angle of each pendulum connection.

After the adjustment, flexibility was enhanced to a certain extent, at least enough for Chen Xin to remove the helmet while wearing the Exoskeleton independently.

However, the shoulder joint’s range of motion remained insufficient; the arms could only extend horizontally and couldn’t stretch backward or upward.

This was mainly due to the structure itself and the need to install hydraulic telescopic rods for assistance.

As the main movement component, the joint is also the primary point of assistance. While adjusting joint flexibility, Chen Xin also had to consider the assistance mechanism.

Elbow joint adjustments were relatively easy since the elbow’s movement angle is small. By adjusting the hydraulic telescopic rod’s length, it was workable.

But shoulder joint adjustments were not that simple.

The shoulder joint consists of two moveable joints. One is a shaft perpendicular to the back at the scapula position, with the entire Exoskeleton arm structure connected to this shaft, linking it to the Exoskeleton’s main body and serving as the primary joint for arm movement.

The joint’s movement mode involves other structures rotating around the fixed shaft, limited by structure. Combined with the realistic small front and back swinging range of arms, the shaft only swings 0°~70°; after adjustment, it reached 90°—still not highly flexible but sufficient for use.

The remaining joint at the shoulder is a typical pendulum connection, responsible for connecting the back shaft joint structure with the arm’s main part, marking the Exoskeleton’s upper limb section’s most vital and movable joint.

Theoretically, these two joints allow arm movement in all directions, but due to structural issues, the shoulder joint’s pendulum range is only 0°~120°, prohibiting a proper French salute and only allowing a WWII German salute.

Improving this joint’s connections would complicate the structure further. While it would increase flexibility, installing the assistance mechanism would become troublesome.

Chen Xin considered using universal joints, magnetic joints, and air-bearing ball joints for connection modes, but the sample tests weren’t promising, increasing structural complexity and interfering with the assistance system, making actual flexibility improvements limited.

This left Chen Xin quite puzzled.

Unable to think of a solution, Chen Xin, after feeling frustrated, decided to play some games to relax and find inspiration from science fiction games.

Turning on the gaming console, Chen Xin browsed through the games. "Halo" and "Mass Effect" had little reference value; they featured Power Armor, an entirely different structure than the Exoskeleton’s mere rods.

However, the Exoskeleton in "Call of Duty 11" caught Chen Xin’s eye, though after a close look, he could only partially learn from it.

The Exoskeleton featured in "Call of Duty 11" had a fixed back but adopted spherical joints identical to human joints at the shoulder, with two spherical joints linked, granting sufficient shoulder flexibility.

This structure is feasible, but spherical joints have large friction surfaces, and to ensure flexibility, fixed structures can’t be adopted; soft materials or a magnetic setup, resembling human joints, must be used.

The primary choice for soft materials is rubber, but current industrially synthesized rubber becomes brittle and loses effectiveness in sub-zero temperatures, while magnetic joints face concerns like stability in usage, detachment, and wear, needing careful consideration.

Moreover, the key issue is that game designs face no technical or structural plausibility challenges, allowing even designs with magnetic levitation joints, receiving praises for technical prowess.

In reality, however, Chen Xin must consider many more factors, especially since he’s designing structures with cost-saving in mind, further ruling out overly complex or costly structures.

Thus, after consideration, Chen Xin ruled out spherical joint connections.

Yet, excluding a plan is simple; solving the problem is still tough.

Luckily, the mechanical structures from several games offered ample reference. After careful thought and comparison, Chen Xin decided to add a new joint to the original shoulder joints, enhancing flexibility.

The back shaft connection remains unchanged, while the original pendulum shoulder connection converted into a disc-like structure, integrating the assistance mechanism and joint, driven by a motor facilitating 0°~270° rotation inside.

This includes a rotation axis at the disk’s bottom perpendicular to the disk’s rotation axis, ensuring convenient arm movement.

After these adjustments, Chen Xin solved the upper limb flexibility problem in the Exoskeleton, ensuring sufficient flexibility while receiving support.

Solving this marked the resolution of the Exoskeleton Protective Suit’s greatest challenge, with high-performance batteries and the large helmet issue raised by Chen Xin’s father still easily solvable.

Following his father’s advice, Chen Xin reduced the helmet’s size from the bulky Space Suit-like cover to a head-hugging design, resembling a motorcycle helmet with transparent eye sections and a connected breathing mask. Chen Xin finally produced a test sample of the modified Exoskeleton Protective Suit.

This time he wore the experimental Exoskeleton Protective Suit himself. Without help from others, Chen Xin spent about five minutes to put on the entire Exoskeleton Protective Suit.

Despite some inconvenience, Chen Xin accepted this level, considering its civil use without concerns for rapid donning and doffing, as long as it allowed singlehanded wearing and wouldn’t require excessive time or effort.

Wearing the test Exoskeleton Protective Suit, Chen Xin activated the power and entered the elevator, planning to test the suit’s effectiveness in a real-world setting.