103: Chapter 103 Simulated Prosthetic Limb

"It's done! What's done?"

Wang Zhe had just come over from his own incubator; his new cells were still in the cultivation stage.

He saw Li Wei staring at the oscilloscope with an excited face, muttering something under her breath.

Li Wei suddenly turned her head, her eyes sparkling, and pointed at two clear, pulsing waveforms on the oscilloscope screen.

"Bipolar! Wang Zhe, bipolar neurons! We made them! Look! Both the input and output channels have stable signals!"

"Holy crap?!"

Wang Zhe dashed over, nearly knocking into the nearby reagent rack.

His eyes widened as he practically pressed his face against the oscilloscope screen, repeatedly confirming those two curves that, while not identical in waveform, were both regularly active.

"It really worked?! How... how were you so fast?!"

He looked at Li Wei in disbelief.

It was true that enlightenment had provided the plan, but in his estimation, even with a clear direction, it would require repeated debugging and optimization. It should have taken at least a week or two to get such clear results.

"It's not that I'm fast, it's that the plan from enlightenment was too precise!"

Li Wei's voice trembled with excitement.

"It's practically like they chewed the food up and fed it right to our mouths!"

Just then, bursts of clamor began to erupt from other corners of the laboratory.

"Holy crap! It worked! It really worked! Hahaha!"

A young Researcher suddenly jumped up from his seat, waving the logbook in his hand with a look of pure ecstasy, even dancing a little jig.

A more composed colleague nearby, wearing thick glasses, was startled by him and gave him a sharp, annoyed pat.

"What are you howling for! What worked? Did you become a star or something? Act with some decorum!"

"See for yourself!"

The young Researcher shoved the logbook in front of the other's eyes, pointing at the data.

"I measured it on my end too! Although the signal is still a bit weak, the signs of bidirectional conduction are very obvious! This plan is divine!"

"Holy crap?! You lucky bastard! You moved so fast!"

A member of another group leaned over to look, punching the other's shoulder in a mix of envy and jealousy.

"Congratulations, congratulations! Why was your side so fast? Did you follow the new plan exactly? Were there any adjustments?" someone asked curiously.

"My god... artificial bipolar neurons... has anyone in the world ever made these before? We... we just pulled it off?"

A female Researcher looked at the successfully connected sample under her microscope, murmuring to herself in a tone full of dreamlike wonder.

"Just who is this Spark Research Institute that Wang Zhe mentioned before? This plan they gave is too precise, isn't it? It feels like they've already made it themselves?" someone couldn't help but whisper.

"The data stability isn't enough yet, the waveform has slight distortion, and it's far from practical use. It still needs optimization."

Someone else was more calm, pointing at the less-than-perfect waveform on their oscilloscope.

"This isn't enough?! Do you even understand what artificial bipolar neurons are? Based on this alone, if we only make motor-function prosthetics, it's theoretically achievable already!" someone immediately retorted.

Listening to the surrounding exclamations, discussions, doubts, and ecstasy rising and falling, Wang Zhe and Li Wei looked at each other, both seeing deep shock and admiration for enlightenment's almost monstrous ability in the other's eyes.

The fog that had troubled them for over a week was actually dispersed in an instant by a beam of intense light after enlightenment made its move!

Li Wei's excitement hadn't faded; looking at the signal pulsing actively on the oscilloscope, an even bolder idea popped into her head.

"Wang Zhe,"

She turned her head and asked excitedly.

"How much do you know about electronics? Can you put together a very simple little device?"

"I want to... use this material to try making a temporary prosthetic for the Bullfrog! To see if it can actually drive something!"

Although Wang Zhe focused on biomaterials rather than electronics, he was an engineering student after all, and his foundation was still there.

He froze for a moment, then immediately understood Li Wei's idea, his eyes lighting up as well.

"Simple control? No problem! I'll try!"

He quickly ran through it in his mind: a transistor to amplify the signal, a MOSFET as a switch to control high current, driving a small servo... it was completely feasible!

That kind of small gadget could definitely be found among that group of DIY enthusiasts at the School of Electrical and Information Engineering!

"Wait for me!"

Wang Zhe threw out the words and rushed out of the lab like a whirlwind.

He pulled out his phone, making a call as he walked.

"Hello? Old Zhang! Emergency! Lend me that set of model aircraft electronic junk... I mean, your precious treasures!"

"Yes! servos, batteries, driver boards, I need them all! It's urgent! I'll buy you dinner later!"

In less than an hour, Wang Zhe returned carrying a small toolbox containing a small model aircraft servo, a 9V battery, several transistors, MOSFETs, a breadboard, and a bunch of jumper wires.

He proudly jerked his chin at Li Wei: "Got it!"

The atmosphere in the lab, which had just calmed down a bit, was instantly ignited again.

When everyone heard that Li Wei and Wang Zhe were going to simulate a prosthetic limb, they swarmed over, crowding the small lab bench until it was watertight.

Most of those present were biology students; their knowledge of circuits was basically stuck at the high school level, and they knew nothing about analog circuits or switches composed of semiconductors like transistors and MOSFETs.

Everyone craned their necks, watching with great curiosity as Wang Zhe fiddled with those electronic components.

Wang Zhe didn't care about the onlookers; with Li Wei's cooperation, he quickly built the circuit on the breadboard.

His movements were nimble; though not exactly elegant, his logic was clear.

The output end of the artificial neuron was connected to the base of a transistor for current amplification; the amplified signal then drove the gate of a MOSFET, which acted like a switch, controlling the high current flowing to the model aircraft servo.

Li Wei, meanwhile, carefully connected the input end of that successful artificial bipolar neuron to a small section of the Bullfrog's isolated motor nerve, while the output end was connected to the circuit Wang Zhe had built.

The servo was fixed to a small stand, right next to the anesthetized and secured Bullfrog.

"Alright! Let's try it!" Wang Zhe wiped the sweat from his forehead and switched on the power.

The lab fell silent instantly as dozens of pairs of eyes stared intently at the Bullfrog and the servo beside it.

Li Wei used tweezers to gently touch the skin of the Bullfrog's leg, simulating a weak stimulus.

"Kick!" Under the slight stimulus, the Bullfrog's hind leg instinctively and weakly kicked once!

Almost at the same instant!

"Zzzt-ga!"

The model aircraft servo fixed on the stand suddenly rotated an angle, emitting a clear mechanical sound!

"It moved! It really moved!"

"Holy crap! It's synchronized?!"

"Look, look!"

The crowd let out a burst of suppressed low exclamations.

Li Wei tried a few more times.

Sometimes, the Bullfrog's kick and the servo's rotation were almost synchronous, as if the servo were a part of its body.

Sometimes there would be a slight delay, or the range of the servo's rotation would be inconsistent.

Clearly, the stability of the signal transmission, the precision of the amplification circuit, and the response of the mechanical structure all needed further optimization.

But this did not prevent the scene before them from bringing a huge shock and sense of satisfaction to everyone!

That tiny servo, driven by the Bullfrog's unconscious kicking motion, was moving clumsily yet truly.

This simple demonstration was more powerful than any data or charts in declaring its message.

Using artificial neuron materials to drive external mechanical devices was completely feasible in principle!

Although there was still a long way to go before manufacturing precise prosthetics that could replace human limbs, and although there were countless problems with optimization and integration to solve,

The entire project had undoubtedly taken a massive leap forward!