Seeing the two nod, Nick switched to the next page of the PPT and continued, "As for our technology, it is far more advanced than theirs."
"Under my technology, there are four major systems: the Real-time Interactive Remote Control System, the Drone Data Interconnection System, the Interconnected Information Processing System, and the Real-time Attitude Control System.
First, let's talk about the Real-time Interactive Remote Control System. This is easy to understand: it's about remotely controlling the drone swarm to achieve or realize the postures and formations we require.
On the surface, it doesn't seem any different from the remote control technology on the market. But in reality, the actual difference is quite significant.
Our feature is that we can grasp the data fed back by the drones in real-time and flexibly control them. This control can be via programs, or it can be direct manual control."
"But in that case, the computational load would be immense, requiring a dedicated host for calculation and control. Plus, we'd have to account for the impact of computation time and transmission latency on flight control," Zack pointed out.
Nick nodded and smiled, "That's exactly why we need the Data Interconnection System and the Interconnected Information Processing System to solve this problem."
Drone control systems on the market actually work by having one host send information commands to N drones—that is, a 1-to-N connection method—where there is no information interaction between the drones themselves.
Our Drone Data Interconnection System technology, however, can achieve information connectivity between drones, as well as interactive connections between drones and the ground control host, thereby achieving a 1-to-N-to-N method."
Before he had even finished speaking, Zack chimed in, "Circuit design and connection is a science; it's not just about connecting things up. It requires connecting N devices in the most optimal and reasonable way."
Ensuring that the speed of information transmission between these devices doesn't suffer from latency or congestion due to too many hops between devices.
Connecting N drones in an orderly and reasonable manner is a task of immense workload and difficulty. Furthermore, I don't see what the point is in interconnecting the data of these drones."
The problem Zack raised is actually a complex issue that exists in the field of computing, especially in large-scale computers and servers.
Suppose you have 30 computers; how do you connect them? The simplest way might be to daisy-chain them.
But this creates problems: Computer 1 and Computer 2 connect smoothly with minimal latency.
But for Computer 1 and Computer 30, to exchange data, they would have to cross the 28 computers in between.
The best and most direct method is to add a line to connect Computer 1 and Computer 30. Then connect 1 to 15, 15 to 30, or even 7 to 15. Ultimately, this creates a complex network of lines.
This is only for 30 devices. Large-scale computers or servers have thousands or even tens of thousands of subsystems (sub-devices).
How to connect all these things is perhaps one of the most thorny problems to be solved first when developing a large-scale computer.
Nick switched to another page of the PPT, and the title on this page read "Interconnected Information Processing System." At first, the two didn't pay much attention, but when they saw the explanation and related diagrams below, they couldn't help but be astonished.
"You mean to connect all these drones to each other, thereby forming a complete system?" Zack asked, looking at Nick in surprise.
"Correct," Nick nodded. "In the past, we relied too much on the host. All the data from the drone array had to be transmitted to the host for processing, and then redistributed to each individual drone. This was not only time-consuming but also inefficient."
"Our system, however, can enable the drone swarm to process data autonomously."
"But limited by the drones' payload and power, their ability to process data is very limited," Terry raised his concern.
Nick smiled and replied, "That's true, for a single drone, yes. But what about hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands? The combined information data processing capability would be quite considerable."
What Nick was talking about was actually similar to the structure and calculation method of large-scale computers. A computer's data processing capability is related to its CPU; the more cores it has, the faster the processing speed naturally becomes.
It's just like the same task being handled by one person versus multiple people working together; the speed of a multi-core CPU is naturally much faster than a single-core CPU.
Of course, there's another possibility: that this single-core CPU's processing speed far exceeds that of a quad-core CPU.
Like some large-scale computers, they basically adopt this superposition combination method, optimizing and combining countless computing module units to form a huge computing system. This is what a supercomputer is.
And the Interconnected Information Processing System he proposed borrows from the structural principles of large-scale computers, with modifications and optimizations made to adapt it to drone swarm networks.
If it were before, he certainly wouldn't have been able to complete this huge project. But now, he only needed to modify the relevant information stored in his brain to produce a complete set of technical documentation.
However, with his current energy, it would be difficult to complete it within a limited time. That's why he needed helpers; he only needed to build the framework and main structure, and let the two of them fill in and refine the minor details.
"Based on what you've proposed, this is definitely a very complex project. Do we have the ability to complete it in such a short time?" Zack said with concern.
Regarding this, he waved his hand and showed a confident look, saying, "Don't worry about that, everything is in my head."
"Are you kidding? Everything is in your head? Do you know the complexity of this thing?" Zack exclaimed.
Nick smiled slightly and said, "Do you think I look like I'm joking?"
Zack and Terry looked at each other, then stared straight at him. After about three or four minutes, they shook their heads and said, "Doesn't look like it, but I still don't believe you know all this. We've lived together for four years; how come I never knew you had this ability?"
"There's a lot you don't know," Nick replied with a smile, although he was actually extremely nervous inside. He was afraid that Zack and Terry would keep pressing him and he would give himself away.
Fortunately, the two didn't pursue the questioning too much. Zack sighed, "I'm finding it harder and harder to see through you."
"Alright, enough sighing. Get to work," Nick interrupted their discussion and urged them.
"Hey, you still haven't explained the Real-time Attitude Control System," Zack pressed.
Nick smiled and shook his head, "That's in the realm of drone hardware; we don't need it for now. We'll talk about it later. Let's get to work for now."
Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, although the two were a bit disappointed, they still got up and started working.
"Then where should we start?" Zack asked.
Nick thought for a moment, then said to the two, "Let's start by building the Real-time Interactive Remote Control System and the Drone Data Interconnection System."
"Zack, I'll send you the system framework, and you can fill in the details."
"No problem."
Seeing Zack agree, Nick said to Terry on the side, "Terry, your task is also very arduous. I'll leave the hardware side to you."
"For the entire hardware part, the most important thing is the drone airframe. Next are the ground coordinate positioning generator and the ground remote control system."
"I think you can start with the drone airframe, which you are most familiar with."
"OK!" He snapped his fingers and immediately got to work.