In HID's Electrical and Automation Laboratory, a team of engineers with an average age of 35 is installing 'autopilot' and 'intelligent obstacle avoidance' systems on dredgers. Senior engineer Li Guodong is leading the team in transforming tens of thousands of sets of historical dredging operation data into algorithm models. "The old hands can control the cutter lift by feel, and now we need to translate that feel into code," said Li.
This self-developed smart dredging system recently achieved an astonishing precision of ±5 centimetres in dredging under level six winds and waves during a trial run, even surpassing the skills of some experienced dredger operators.
This showcases another side of HID engineers' technical prowess – using a digital vessel to capture the essence of craftsmanship handed down through generations. "Resonance between generations born in the 50s and 90s" On site, one often sees scenes like this: a grey-haired senior engineer drawing lines on a steel plate with chalk, followed by a group of master's students with glasses verifying with a 3D scanner. HID's unique 'dual-teacher' training system allows experience and innovation to connect seamlessly.
The older generation teaches 'where wear is most likely and where reinforcement is needed,' while the newer generation focuses on 'how to repair with laser cladding and how to provide early warning with sensors.' This kind of intergenerational 'technical translation' has enabled HID dredgers to win multiple national infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia and the Middle East in recent international bids. Owners consistently comment: 'HID's ships can promise "capacity guarantee values" in contracts because behind them are engineers who dare to be responsible for numbers and even more responsible for the actual soil.'
Between the steel beams of a dredger flows the tidal memory of HID engineers' lifetimes. Their skill lies not in never making mistakes, but in always finding the most reliable solution in a complex physical world; their experience isn't a burden of the past, but a 'ballast stone' that allows new productivity to stand firm amid turbulent waves.
