[Original Title] Building People’s Cars with "China Core" —— A Record of Liu Changye, "Eight Gui Model" and Chief Technology Officer of Control and Software of SAIC-GM-Wuling Technology Center
Liu Changye (second from right) and the team members are discussing the technical scheme of turning to the key controller. (Photo courtesy of SAIC-GM-Wuling)
    With the dream of "automobile power", he led the team to step into the "no man’s land" of scientific research again and again, overcome key core technologies, solve the problem of "stuck neck", and was determined to build "people’s car" with hard core "Chinese core".
    He and his colleagues are quite responsible, and it is difficult to attack the "core". They have successively completed the independent development and mass production of software and hardware of more than 30 controllers, and completed the loading application of 40 million domestic chips on the whole vehicle.
    Thanks to the efforts of him and his team, Wuling Hongguang MINIEV, known as the "people’s scooter" and the world’s single-model sales champion of new energy vehicles for seven times, has increased the localization rate of chips from 6% to 93% in three years.
    As a doctor of "returnees" majoring in combustion science, he has devoted himself to car-making for thirteen years, and always "burns" his burning dreams in the most efficient way in the process of transformation and cross-border.
    He is the "Eight Gui Model", the deputy general manager of the technical center of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as SAIC-GM-Wuling), the chief technology officer of control and software, and the deputy director of Guangxi New Energy Automobile Laboratory and professor-level senior engineer Liu Changye.
   "Black! Open up the second pulse of industrial governor. "
    "emergency! Urgent! "
    Put the hour hand back to the end of February 2022. Although it is early spring, it is still chilly. There is a tense atmosphere in SAIC-GM-Wuling. Due to the sudden interruption of the supply of imported chips, the steering controller of key components could not be supplied, and a large number of cars on the assembly line could not be off the assembly line.
    At that time, the "chip shortage" was sweeping the automobile industry. The price of some key components has skyrocketed. Although the price has doubled, it is still hard to find a "core", resulting in a shortage of controllers. SAIC-GM-Wuling introduced more than 40 measures to ensure supply before and after, but it still can’t completely solve the shortage of key components.
    "Before 2019, the controller was regarded as a’ black box’ by everyone, and it was purchased as a whole with parts. We don’t know its internal structure, let alone what chips are carried inside." Liu Changye said that it was not until the "chip shortage" spread in 2021 that enterprises deeply felt the pain of "sticking their necks".
    Production is facing stagnation, and engineers are in a hurry.
    I would rather fight hard than endure it. The grim situation has inspired everyone’s spirit of struggle and aroused the responsibility of "the more difficult it is, the more forward it is".
    "Black! It must be black! Key core technologies must be firmly in their own hands. " Liu Changye thought: "Perhaps the pain point of’ chip shortage’ is the key point to get through the second pulse of industry."
    As a result, the team immediately launched the "Black Box Action" to crack the internal mystery of the "black box" and determined to kill a bloody road on the unknown road of making domestic cars with domestic chips.
    The news of all parties was summarized in the technical center, and one of them attracted the attention of the team: a university in Shanghai with long-term and in-depth cooperation with SAIC-GM-Wuling has made a breakthrough in the application of domestic chips. Full of expectations, Liu Changye immediately went to Shanghai from Liuzhou with a research team of 20 people, and "chased the core" at full speed.
    "Our technology has no precedent for industrialization, and you are about to step into a’ no man’s land’." College experts told Liu Changye.
    The difficulties are far more than that. At that time, the COVID-19 epidemic in Shanghai was tight, so they had to move the scientific research equipment to the hotel, turning the hotel into a crucial place for the team, where they lived and ate. Lacking a testing ground, the underground parking lot became their testing ground.
    After fighting all night and repeated testing, the problems in the software code were found out one by one and corrected one by one. At the same time, Liu Changye also keeps in touch with suppliers, universities and Liuzhou base in production and logistics.
    Race against time. In just 8 days, the software development was completed, which solved the obstacle of related software from laboratory to industrialization. In another 6 days, 100% of the steering controller with domestic chips will be on the production line.
    This speed has shocked the industry.
    In the face of praise from all parties, Liu Changye, who started to set up a team to try to develop controllers at the end of 2019, was not satisfied. "We have mature and complete parts verification capabilities and technology industrialization capabilities, so that the technology of the institute can enter the market and enter thousands of households. There are still many ways to go."
    According to relevant data, in 2022, the global production will be reduced by 4.4 million vehicles due to chip shortage. The success of SAIC-GM-Wuling’s "Black-Breaking Action" ensured that 400,000 vehicles were successfully rolled off the assembly line, driving sales revenue to exceed 10 billion yuan.
    The "Operation Breaking the Black" has boosted everyone’s confidence. After that, Liu Changye led the team to further break through the technologies of software algorithm, domestic chip application and vehicle calibration, and successively completed the independent development and mass production of software and hardware of more than 30 controllers, realized the domestic substitution of 486 chips, and accumulated 40 million domestic chips in the vehicle. Loading application.
    Wade through the deep water and gnaw hard bones. SAIC-GM-Wuling not only solved its own technical problems, but also made domestic chips have rich application scenarios in the field of automobile manufacturing, which promoted the rapid upgrade iteration of domestic chips for vehicles and accelerated industrialization.
   "The software has no accidental failure"
    "There is no accidental failure in the software, and the probability of failure is 0, which is 100%." This sentence of Liu Changye is deeply in the heart of Zhang Zhongjun, the electronic architecture integration manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling Technology Center.
    In the traditional automobile manufacturing process, due to mechanical errors and other factors, there are occasional failures. In a new model development test, the body controller of one of hundreds of cars failed. As usual, Zhang Zhongjun attributed this to "accidental failure" and wrote it into the report.
    Unexpectedly, this was severely criticized by Liu Changye: "There is a problem with the software of this car, and it will definitely appear in other cars! We must find the cause of the problem and give a solution. "
    Although he didn’t quite agree with him, Zhang Zhongjun did as required. Because he knows that Liu Changye’s self-requirements and requirements for product quality are extremely strict.
    "We checked for a week and found that there was a mistake in the software program. We improved the scheme." Seeing the new report submitted by Zhang Zhongjun, Liu Changye finally smiled with satisfaction.
    The phrase "there is no accidental software failure" deeply affects the team-you must not let go of any suspicious problems.
    To overcome difficulties, we need courage and perseverance, and we need to find the right path.
    In November last year, when developing the key safety controller, Wang Wei, the test and experience manager, encountered an unprecedented problem. "This test is bulky and difficult. How to speed up the completion as soon as possible to reduce the supply pressure of the production line? How to solve the problem of high cost of collision test? This makes us feel at a loss. " He said.
    Just when Wang Wei was at a loss, Liu Changye told him, "Don’t be afraid of difficulties, do the right thing."
    Liu Changye broke through the traditional "hard-hitting" crash test method, took everyone to collect more than 30,000 sets of real vehicle data, conducted simulation tests through signal simulation, completed the target task in 10 days, and built a complete signal simulation test system.
    "Software testing is not only qualified acceptance, but also repeated verification in various complex environments, reverse analysis of all possibilities, and efforts to ensure safety and stability." Liu Changye’s words helped Wang Wei find the way to work and the mission of struggle.
    The ancients said, "Who dares to be wrong if the child rate is positive?" With Liu Changye leading by example and setting an example, the team worked as one, and the technical problems of "sticking the neck" were broken.
    "He proposed a long time ago to promote the localization of chips with decoupling thinking, eliminate the problem that chip software and hardware cannot be matched among different enterprises, and make the joint innovation of politics, production, learning, research and use more efficient and forward-looking. At present, the controller and chip application sub-laboratory of Guangxi New Energy Vehicle Laboratory is promoting scientific research innovation and technical iteration under such a concept. "
    "He has a huge knowledge reserve and is called a generalist in science. Once the data didn’t match, he personally deduced the mathematical formula. "
    "He is always full of energy. He forgets to eat and sleep when he does a project. He is often the last person to leave the office. Sometimes he replies to the questions raised by the team on WeChat at one or two in the morning."
    "He is rigorous and meticulous, pursuing Excellence, and his positive and optimistic scientific research attitude infects everyone in the team."
    ……
    In the interview, colleagues outlined the image of this "benchmarking" scientific research worker.
    In fact, Liu Changye is not a talented player born to build a car. From studying physics and combustion to studying engines, to focusing on the development of new energy vehicles and solving the problems of controller development … He constantly challenges himself, which is the intensive work and study for years. Those foreign language documents that have been turned over have been repeatedly tested for thousands of times. The lights that are always on in the office at night and the gray hair on his head are the testimony of the "post-80 s" technical expert’s diligent work and courage to climb the peak of science and technology.
   "Fighting spirit, changing the unknown"
    Interview with Liu Changye, we made an appointment at 8 pm. Through the window of Liu Changye’s office on the 5th floor of Wuling Hongguang Building of SAIC-GM, we can see that he is having a heated discussion with a group of people. It was not until half an hour later that the meeting ended that he came out and said apologetically, "Sorry to have kept you waiting!" "
    Walking into his office, there was a display screen for demonstrating PPT, two pieces of blue tooling, and various materials on the desktop … The most special thing was the form with a wall. "Key Controller Project Plan" and "Key Component Development Plan" … On the table, there are many key nodes, target tasks and development progress, and the time span is from 2020 to 2024.
    "When I have a sip of water, we’ll talk in two minutes." When we sit down, Liu Changye said. At this time, I saw Liu Changye’s eyes through black-rimmed glasses, which was a little tired.
    Before joining SAIC-GM-Wuling, Liu Changye studied physics and combustion, and went to Madrid University of Science and Technology and Delft University in the Netherlands to study. He was selected as the first batch of "National Project for Building High-level Universities" to jointly train doctoral students and went to Lund University in Sweden for further study.
    As we all know, new energy vehicles have no internal combustion engines. However, this expert who studies combustion is the first group of people who invested in the development of new energy vehicles by SAIC-GM-Wuling. Thanks to Liu Changye’s long-term study experience, he has developed his strong learning ability and logical thinking, which has become two sharp tools for him to carry out scientific research in the future. In his view, the internal logic of innovation and research and development are all interlinked.
    When studying in Sweden, the engine laboratory was next to his laboratory. "I was fascinated by the ingenious design of the engine in the laboratory. It was simply a perfect work of art." Speaking of which, Liu Changye’s eyes sparkled.
    After that, Liu Changye often went to the laboratory next door to observe. During the long-term exchanges, he deeply felt the gap between China and developed countries in car-making technology, and the seeds of dreams were quietly sprouting in his heart.
    "My parents are industrial workers and always respect and support my choices." The cold wind in Sweden gradually receded, and the moat of the castle began to shine, and winter went to spring. Standing at the crossroads of life, Liu Changye was a little confused in his heart until he met this engine. "I grew up in Liuzhou’s strong industrial and cultural atmosphere and watched the automobile industry surge. I am also the son of a worker, and I am always eager to use what I have learned. " Liu Changye immediately decided to go back to Liuzhou to work and devote himself to automobile research and development.
    In 2010, Liu Changye joined SAIC-GM-Wuling and was the second doctor recruited by the company.
    Nowadays, it has become the norm for "returnees" to return to their hometowns and doctors to enter the factory. Among the 4000 engineers in SAIC-GM-Wuling Technology Center, there are 26 doctors.
    Among the four apprentices Liu Changye is currently taking, there are two doctors. He also integrated the enlightened education of his parents into the process of mentoring.
    Alvin Wong, a post-90s doctor, is an expert in software testing and one of Liu Changye’s apprentices. "He always works late, but he never asks us to do the same." In Alvin Wong’s eyes, Liu Changye’s "being a teacher and a friend" is an example for learning and a yardstick for correcting mistakes.
    "When I first entered the company from campus, I always wanted to prove myself. In order to make an annual summary report, I want to present it in a bright way. " Alvin Wong said. However, Liu Changye told Alvin Wong that the road is simple, and it is not necessary to engage in fancy things in scientific research, but to be down-to-earth.
    Adhering to the fine tradition of "working hard and striving for self-improvement" and aiming at mastering key core technologies, SAIC-GM-Wuling is accelerating its global layout on the new track of new energy vehicles. A number of new energy vehicles, represented by Wuling Air ev, which shined brilliantly at the G20 Summit held in Bali, Indonesia in 2022, are shining frequently on the international stage with the expectation of Liu Changye and the team, and realizing the output of technology, standards and industrial chain.
    Under the leadership of Liu Changye, SAIC-GM-Wuling has set up a high-level scientific research team in the field of localization of automobile controllers and chips. On the stage of international competition, Liu Changye firmly believes that the self-controlled technology and reliable product quality will make the road for China automobile to "go out to sea" wider and flatter.
    In Kan Kan, Liu Changye described his dream of "automobile power".
    "Sorry, actually, I haven’t had dinner yet, and my brain can’t turn around …" At the end of our interview, Liu Changye said apologetically again. Only then did we notice that the sweets and biscuits on the table were used to satisfy his hunger when he was busy.
    Fighting spirit, changing the unknown.
    Out of Liu Changye’s office, there is such a sentence printed on the head-on wall. Looking back on the interviews in the past few days, from Liu Changye and his team, we can see the hope and confidence of China automobile industry to lead the world in the new energy track. (Li Bin Rongyao)
