Liuxianlin, Honorary Director of the Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping and a founding academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. China News Service Wu Tao Photography
He is the Honorary Director of the Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping and a founding academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; all of his innovative achievements have been applied in practice, transforming into real productive forces. Recently, a photo of him focused on revising documents while sitting in a second-class seat on a high-speed train, wearing an old pair of leather shoes, went viral online, earning him unexpected praise. — This is 78-year-old surveying expert Liu Xianlin.
Image Source: @Jigong Strategy Weibo
Daring to Break the International Price Monopoly
Born in 1939, Liu Xianlin has been engaged in the research and development of surveying instruments for 55 years, embodying the spirit of craftsmanship to perfection, advancing the level of Chinese surveying instruments to an internationally leading position.
“Breaking the foreign price monopoly on related instruments” is a point that many people have a deep impression of Liu Xianlin. According to reports, in 1962, after graduating from Wuhan Institute of Surveying and Mapping, Liu Xianlin, faced with exorbitant prices for imported surveying equipment and a blockade on surveying technology, was determined to break the monopoly of foreign products in the surveying field, and thus began a struggle lasting more than half a century.
Staff from the Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping explained that previously, the surveying instrument market was semi-monopolistic, with no domestic brands, and international brands seemed to have reached some consensus, keeping prices high. However, domestic departments still needed to use them and could only purchase at high prices. “Liu Xianlin has a good temper, but the one thing he cannot tolerate is that outdated foreign surveying technology is sold to China at high prices.”
The SSW Vehicle-Mounted Laser Modeling Measurement System developed by Liu Xianlin’s team is world-leading. China News Service Wu Tao Photography
The aforementioned staff provided an example: in 2002, a certain national department purchased a batch of projection platforms at 8 million yuan each. After Liu Xianlin learned about it, he said, “Can this really sell for a few million?” Subsequently, he led the team to develop the 3DPT stereoscopic projection platform, priced at 800,000 yuan each, which immediately made the foreign equipment unsellable.
In an interview, Liu Xianlin recalled, “In the 1980s and 1990s, the equipment we produced was 8 times cheaper than similar foreign products. Later, many of our devices had better technology than foreign ones, and were still cheaper.”
However, Liu Xianlin also mentioned, “In recent years, if the prices of equipment and instruments are too low, the market does not recognize them. Therefore, some of our products are now priced similarly to foreign ones. For example, our current SSW vehicle-mounted laser modeling measurement system is priced not much lower than similar foreign products, but its performance is significantly better.”
It is understood that the SSW vehicle-mounted laser modeling measurement system is currently in an absolute leading position in the world, with an absolute accuracy of post-processing reaching 5 centimeters, and the processing time for one kilometer of data is only 5 minutes, capable of extracting up to 50 types of urban feature classifications, while similar foreign products take half an hour to extract even one type of feature.
Liu Xianlin loves to “get hands-on.” This is a corner of Liu Xianlin’s office. China News Service Wu Tao Photography
Emphasizing Practice, His Office is Comparable to a Workshop
As a surveyor, combining production with equipment research and development is Liu Xianlin’s principle. He does not value papers, does not focus on patents, and does not simply pursue filling industry gaps. All of his innovative achievements have been applied in practice, transforming into real productive forces.
This is evident from one of Liu Xianlin’s offices. On the 18th, when reporters visited Liu Xianlin’s office, it was like entering a workshop, with wrenches, hacksaws, and many unnamed tools and instrument parts on the desk. The 78-year-old Liu Xianlin was full of energy, and during the interview, he occasionally touched the scissors on his desk.
Colleagues close to Liu Xianlin told reporters that his hands-on habit has been long-standing, “Originally, the power on this floor often tripped. Whenever it tripped, without asking, it was definitely Liu Xianlin tinkering with something, causing an overload.”
Staff introduce the SSW vehicle-mounted laser modeling measurement system. China News Service Wu Tao Photography
For decades, Liu Xianlin has led several major projects, each taking about 10 years from start to success, going through hundreds of failures and countless ups and downs. Liu Xianlin recalled that in 1968, to solve a difficult problem in aerial measurement procedures, he personally stayed in the machine room for three days and nights.
In 1987, to promote the application of the JX-3 analytical mapping instrument, he transferred the driver software from the single-board computer to the system computer one by one. During the Spring Festival, when Liu Xianlin’s assistants went home for the holidays, he felt that time was of the essence, so he enlisted the help of his 10-year-old son. The two of them worked continuously in the laboratory throughout the Spring Festival, soldering hundreds of solder joints. That year, the JX-3 analytical mapping instrument achieved mass production and was exported to international markets.
“We need to use our brains and our hands to make real contributions, to conduct useful scientific research, and to pass on the spirit of hard work, fearlessness of hardship, and innovation to the younger generation,” Liu Xianlin stated. This is not only his insight into scientific research but also his understanding of the spirit of craftsmanship in a great nation.
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Source: China News Service
Author: Wu Tao
Editor: Wang Shuai