Jumper cables?
Mai Dong frowned. She wasn't an electrical professional. Speaking of jumper cables, the first thing that came to her mind was the scene in Hollywood movies where the male or female lead smashed open the car's control panel and pulled out two thin wires. With a spark, the car's engine would start.
This was using the instantaneous current generated by the short circuit to start the car's engine. Was there such a simple way to start the space station's computer?
"Listen to my commands!
Girl! "
"Okay."
Tang Yue stared intently at the circuit diagram on the monitor. The two screens on either side of him displayed the schematic diagram and block diagram of the power distribution system of the Joint Space Station's core module. The Old Cat had even found the assembly diagram for him. The cat was kneeling on the table and poking its head out from behind the computer monitor. It was holding a third screen in its hands.
Tang Yue quickly scribbled on a piece of paper. The friction between the tip of the pen and the paper produced a rustling sound. Cold sweat broke out on Tang Yue's forehead. Although this kind of analysis was his specialty, the complexity of the space station's power distribution system was beyond his imagination. Ever since he graduated from university, Tang Yue hadn't encountered such a basic operation for many years. Even during ground training and daily work, he didn't need to take apart the entire core module.
Kunlun Station didn't have EDA software, so he could only make do with pen and paper.
IC780 … IC780 … amplifier, transistor?
Yes, it's a transistor. One, two, three, four, five, six, six unit circuits, STO5347 oscillator … Is this an open drain or an open collector?
I have to see if it's driven by an external circuit. It has nothing to do with the IC's internals. Using low-level logic to control high-level logic … Total frequency conversion!
Frequency conversion!
Frequency conversion! Frequency conversion! F * * king frequency conversion!
Tang Yue had returned to being the student in the exam hall who was anxious over the test papers overnight.
Calm down, calm down, calm down. I've seen this before!
Calm down!
Tang Yue's heart rate was rising crazily. His hand that was holding the pen could not stop trembling.
It was as if the plane you were on was about to crash, and at this time, someone threw a difficult math question to you and asked you to solve it in five minutes. If you could solve it, the plane would be saved.
Large beads of sweat rolled down Tang Yue's cheeks.
Mai Dong was still waiting for his instructions.
Old Cat's head rested on top of the monitor, and its cat eyes looked down at Tang Yue's work.
"Pin 13 of TC 88604, because it's a time-varying component," Old Cat said suddenly.
Tang Yue was stunned.
"You know about this?"
"I'm not as good as you." Old Cat tilted his head and held up the monitor. "I know a little."
"Alright!"
Tang Yue pushed over a pile of papers on his left. "Help me find a way to excite the voltage source USP7540!
Remember not to violate Kirchhoff's law. "
Old Cat freed a paw to pick up the papers. The papers were covered with messy wiring. Old Cat slowly narrowed its eyes.
"Oh … You gave me the most difficult part, right?
This is a non-linear time-varying component. I need to solve a very, very long non-homogeneous linear differential equation. "
"Then hurry up and solve it!"
"I've solved it."
Old Cat stretched its neck, picked up the pen from the table, and calmly wrote down the answer. "Here."
"Girl!" Tang Yue threw the pen in his hand and jumped up with the final result. "Girl!
Girl, can you hear me?
Girl? "
This damn half-duplex communication system did not allow both parties to speak at the same time. When one person spoke, the other person could only listen.
"Girl, girl, girl, girl, pick up the phone … pick up my phone …"
Tang Yue could only anxiously wait for the other party's response.
"Tang Yue?"
“OK！
Girl, listen to me carefully. I'll teach you how to restart the computer! "
Tang Yue stared at the draft paper in his hand. "Under the current conditions, it's impossible to restart the computer directly. Or rather, I haven't found a way yet. But we can start it indirectly … by short-circuiting the overload protector to restart the computer."
"Overload protector?" Mai Dong held the flashlight. She was a little confused. She did not understand electricity.
"Yes!"
Tang Yue said, "The overload protector has the authority to turn off or turn on some modules of the computer. When it detects that the current in certain circuits exceeds the threshold, in order to protect the computer from being burned by the abnormal current, the protector will turn off the corresponding module and conduct a self-check at the same time!
During this process, it will restart the system computer! "
"But how do we know that the protector is still working?"
Mai Dong looked around and covered her mouth and nose with one hand. It was dark all around. "And the power in the cabin has been completely cut off … Will it still work?"
"The protector doesn't need power."
Mai Dong was a little surprised. "It doesn't need power?"
"Yes, the overload protector is just an air switch or something like a fuse. It doesn't rely on circuit control, but on the physical characteristics of the material itself!
The Hall effect plays a role in the overload protector. As long as the current flowing through it exceeds the threshold, the protector itself will generate a sufficient potential difference. "
Tang Yue explained, "This weak potential difference will trigger the bottom layer of the computer's reset switch. It's a simple and straightforward reaction like a knee jerk reflex. It's very reliable!"
"Understood," Mai Dong said.
"First, we need to make sure that the computer itself is not out of power," Tang Yue instructed.
No matter what method they used to restart the computer, they had to make sure that the computer itself was charged and could not be physically separated from the battery. The Joint Space Station was hit by Orion, and the solar panels were basically destroyed. Even if there were some left, they would definitely be unusable now. Fortunately, the core module itself was not damaged, which meant that the computer's chassis and battery were very likely to survive.
"Mai Dong, is the secondary panel still there?"
Mai Dong turned her head. "It's still there … but it's a little crooked from the impact."
"Okay, listen to me. The second row of switches on the secondary panel is the column labeled 'PIN-B.' There are a total of three black switches. Push them all to second gear."
Mai Dong did as she was told and pushed all the switches.
"The third row of switches labeled 'PIN-C.' Push them all to second gear."
Mai Dong pushed the switches one by one.
"Tang Yue, the green light is on."
"Very good, this means that there's still power in the battery!"
Tang Yue clenched his fists. "I've designed four methods of restarting the computer with jumper cables. Let's try them one by one."
Mai Dong nodded. She held the flashlight in her mouth and began to clean up the wires exposed by the damage to the computer's main control instrument. There were two or three wires in each hole, and they were of different colors. They should have been connected to different switches or valves, but now they were all tangled together.
"Find the white wire labeled 'H.D.' It should be on the leftmost side of the first row."
Mai Dong moved closer to search carefully. These cables were only one or two millimeters thick. In the smoke-filled core module, it was difficult for Mai Dong to read the words on them.
"White?" Mai Dong said and coughed again. "Tang Yue?"
"Yes, white."
"I found it," Mai Dong replied. "The white H.D. wire."
"Find the red wire labeled with the letter 'P'. It's on the second row."
"The letter … the red wire …" Mai Dong coughed violently. She almost couldn't hold the flashlight in her hand. Tang Yue heard the violent coughing and gasping in the channel, and his heart couldn't help but clench.
"Girl?
Are you okay? "
"I'm … I'm fine." The girl shook her head. "I found this wire."
"Short the two wires."
Mai Dong tilted her head and held the flashlight. She used her teeth to bite off the insulating rubber on the outer layer of the wire, and then twisted the two wires together.
"Tang Yue … the green light on the auxiliary instrument is on."
"Well done …" Tang Yue stared at the circuit diagram on the draft paper. "Well done, girl. Next, find the red wire labeled 'H.D.' Be careful not to find the wrong one. It's red this time!"
"It's on the edge of the white wire. I see it."
"Now, turn the switch in the middle of the second row of the auxiliary instrument to first gear. Then, short the white and red wires labeled 'H.D.'!"
Tang Yue said. This was the most effective reboot method he could think of. By artificially creating a short circuit, it would trigger the overload protector, and the latter would activate the computer's Reset switch.
Mai Dong pressed the two wires together.
"How is it?" Tang Yue's heart was in his mouth.
"Nothing happened." Mai Dong turned her head to look around. The space station was still pitch-black, and there was no movement.
Tang Yue's heart sank.
"Try again. Separate the two wires and short-circuit them again … Try again."
Mai Dong grabbed a wire with one hand and gently touched it. At the instant of contact, the wire's inner core emitted a small spark.
Immediately after, a buzzing sound rang in Mai Dong's ears. Something had been activated. The sound grew louder and louder, and soon, the sound could be heard from all directions. The girl raised her head. The lights on the walls lit up one by one, and the undamaged monitors also lit up one by one. The core module lit up one by one, and the Crystal module regained its light.