HPDBC Chapter 82 Pilot
Chapter 82 Pilot
On the day the smart city pilot project in Xihu District was officially launched, Zuo Cheng led the entire project team to the site.
Xihu District is one of the core urban areas of Hangzhou. Although it is not large in area, it is densely populated and has commercial areas, residential areas, schools, and hospitals, making it an ideal testing ground for IoT applications. Director Zhao selected three streets and a park as the pilot area, covering an area of approximately two square kilometers.
The project team consists of twelve people, plus three graduate students from the Huaxia University of Science and Technology Joint Laboratory, making a total of fifteen people. Ma Hao is the technical lead, Chen Hao is responsible for system setup, Zhang Lei is responsible for hardware deployment, and the three graduate students work with Yu Ying on sensor calibration and data analysis.
"The first batch of 200 sensors covers traffic flow, air quality, noise levels, and trash can fullness on three streets." Zuo Cheng stood at the temporary project command center, looking at the deployment map in front of him. "Ma Hao, is the edge scheduling algorithm module deployed?"
"It's already deployed." Ma Hao opened his laptop, displaying a real-time monitoring interface. "The edge gateways are installed on six nodes across three streets, each responsible for data aggregation and scheduling from thirty to forty sensors. Once the system is online, the data will be transmitted back to our cloud platform in real time."
"Yu Ying, what about the sensor calibration?"
"The first batch has been calibrated, and the accuracy is within the error range." Yu Ying adjusted her glasses. "However, I have a suggestion: it would be best to install a dust cover on the air quality sensor. Street environments are dusty, and the accuracy will decrease over time."
"Okay, Zhang Lei, you handle it."
The deployment lasted for five full days. Sensors and gateways were installed during the day, and systems and algorithms were debugged at night. The weather in Hangzhou in September was still sweltering; several engineers moved equipment and laid network cables under the sun, their T-shirts constantly soaked and then drying. Zuo Cheng shuttled between the project site and the company every day, while the development of the third phase of Sky Dome was also progressing simultaneously. He wished he could split himself in two.
Zhang Lei's hardware team encountered a minor hiccup. The power supply module for the second batch of sensors was incompatible with the interface on the streetlight poles. Zhang Lei and his team worked through the night to modify the interface design, and delivered the modified module to the site early the next morning. Yu Ying's graduate students were responsible for calibrating the sensors. Each sensor had to be measured three times under standard conditions and the average value taken to ensure data accuracy. The three young people worked from morning till night, only eating two boxed meals in between.
Chen Hao noticed his fatigue: "Brother Cheng, you don't need to come to the site every day. Sky Dome needs you too. Ma Hao and I can keep an eye on things here."
"No," Zuo Cheng shook his head. "This pilot project is 402's first battle in the Internet of Things field; I can't be absent. Keep a close eye on Tianqiong; contact me anytime if there are any problems."
On the sixth day, the system officially went live.
Zuo Cheng stood in front of the large screen at the command center, watching the real-time data transmission. Data from 200 sensors was aggregated, compressed, and scheduled through the edge gateway before being uploaded to the cloud platform. The numbers on the screen were fluctuating; traffic flow, air quality, noise levels—every indicator was updating in real time.
"How's the delay?" Zuo Cheng asked Ma Hao.
Ma Hao stared at the monitoring screen: "The average end-to-end latency is 9 milliseconds, with a maximum latency of 15 milliseconds. This is even better than the internal test data."
Nine milliseconds. Zuo Cheng quickly calculated in his mind, a reduction of over seventy percent compared to the traditional method. The edge scheduling system performed even better in the real environment than in simulation. The efficiency bonus from the fusion blades and the collaborative efficiency bonus from the interconnected branches combined to achieve results far exceeding expectations. He couldn't help but mentally praise the tech tree, saying "Well done," even though the system wouldn't respond.
"Very good," Zuo Cheng said. "Continue monitoring and record the data as a basis for subsequent evaluations."
Yu Ying walked over and handed him a cup of coffee: "Brother, don't be too nervous. The data looks good."
Zuo Cheng took the coffee and took a sip. The bitter taste made him a little more awake.
"It's not nervousness, it's caution," he said. "The pilot program has only just begun, and there are still two months to go. Any small problem could be magnified, especially in a government project."
"I know," Yu Ying said softly, "but you've done a great job. Trust your team, and trust yourself."
Zuo Cheng glanced at her, a slight smile playing on his lips. This girl always knew how to say the right thing at the right time.
"Okay, I believe you."
After compiling the data for the first week, Zuo Cheng had Han Lu send it to Director Zhao. The data report was very detailed, with comparison charts for each indicator, including latency, throughput, packet loss rate, and data integrity rate. After reviewing the data, Director Zhao only replied with two words: "Not bad." But Zuo Cheng could sense the satisfaction in Director Zhao's tone.
But Zuo Cheng knew the real test was yet to come. Huaxin wouldn't sit idly by while 402 gained a foothold in the smart city field; they would definitely take action.
Sure enough, in the second week, Han Lu brought some news.
"President Zuo, the people from Huaxin went to see Director Zhao again." Han Lu's expression was somewhat grave. "They said they could provide a free air monitoring system for Xihu District as part of their 'technology charity' project."
Zuo Cheng sneered, "Free? When has Huaxin ever done a loss-making business?" He continued, "They're trying to cut a piece of the pie from our pilot program. First, they'll use free air quality monitoring to get their entry ticket, then gradually expand to transportation and security, and finally squeeze 402 out of Xihu District."
"What did Director Zhao say?"
"He neither agreed nor refused," Han Lu said. "He said he wanted to see CEFC's proposal."
Zuo Cheng leaned back in his chair and thought for a while. Huaxin's strategy was clever: free access to the pilot area, gaining both government endorsement and access to real data. If they proved effective in air monitoring, their next step would be to apply for expansion, gradually encroaching on the 402 pilot area.
"Tell Director Zhao that 402 can add an air monitoring module to the existing system without additional cost," Zuo Cheng said. "Air monitoring is already within the scope of our solution; it's just that it wasn't included in the first phase of deployment. Adding a few sensors and algorithms is a very low-cost process. Also, send Director Zhao a copy of our real-time monitoring data so he can see how well our system is performing."
"clear."
Zuo Cheng looked out the window at the sky. The competition had begun, and he had to run faster. Huaxin had capital, connections, and a brand; 402 only had technology and speed. In this contest, being slow meant certain death.