Hunan Qitai production workshop.

　　Hunan Qitai Laboratory.

Red Net moments reporter Lu Jihua, correspondent Ou Yaqi reports from Changsha

When we came into contact with the concept of mechanics when we were in school, we learned that there is no pressure in our lives. A hand carrying a bag of fruits, water flowing through a water pipe, and a mechanical arm that grabs heavy objects will make us intuitively feel it. Pressure, but how to convert the physical concept of pressure into numbers? At this time, we need pressure-sensitive chips.

In the new Changhai service outsourcing base in Changsha Economic Development Zone, there is a high-tech enterprise dedicated to the research and development, production and sales of metal-based MEMS (micromechanical microelectronic system) pressure-sensitive chips and related pressure sensors-Hunan Qitai Sensing Technology Limited company. After more than ten years of scientific research, Qitai Sensing has overcome the key process and technology of heterogeneous membranes, and is the first to apply them to the production of metal-based pressure-sensitive chips, filling the gap in my country's large-scale factory production line. Its products are widely used in aerospace, high-speed rail, military industry, construction machinery, automobiles, smart cities and other fields.

Mass production to build high-end pressure-sensitive chips

In fact, every ordinary person of us may have been exposed to pressure-sensitive chips. Electronic scales used by vegetable market vendors have pressure-sensitive chips, and many electronic weight scales stored in households also have pressure-sensitive chips. This type of pressure-sensitive chips It is a low-end product, it cannot accurately measure high-intensity pressure, so it is difficult to use in industrial scenarios. However, in the era of intelligent manufacturing, functional chips represented by pressure-sensitive chips have been widely used. According to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, my country's sensor market has maintained rapid growth in recent years, and has maintained a double-digit growth rate in the past five years.

Unfortunately, due to the late start of domestic chip technology, the market for sensor sensitive chips is almost monopolized by foreign companies, which also causes domestic manufacturers to pay a lot of money for purchasing chips every year. Changsha is known as the capital of China's construction machinery, and companies such as Sany and Zoomlion are well-known companies that use such chips. Not only does the production line need to use pressure-sensitive chips to collect data, but also high-end products such as cranes and pump trucks need to use a large number of pressure-sensitive chips. "In the past, they used almost all foreign brands, and now a large number of Qitai's chips have been used in their products." said the person in charge of Hunan Qitai Information Technology Co., Ltd.

It is understood that Qitai sensing technology is 100% independently researched and developed, and the process is 100% independently developed. The core equipment such as lithography machine is jointly developed with domestic manufacturers, and the auxiliary materials such as substrate, target and photoresist are all jointly developed with domestic manufacturers. Research and development. Qitai Sensing has almost established a complete industrial ecosystem. Its scientific research team has overcome the key technology of heterogeneous film formation, developed a full set of production processes, customized 90% of production equipment, and established the only factory-scale production line for metal-based pressure-sensitive chips, which has been fully implemented at the industrial level. Domestically produced alternatives. At present, Qitai Sensing is planning a second metal-based pressure-sensitive chip production line specially developed for the automotive industry. After the production line is completed, it will produce 30 million pressure-sensitive chips per year, and the production level will reach the industry 4.0 standard.

"Domestic substitutes for imports can't just rely on feelings, but also have real hard power." The person in charge of Hunan Qitai Information Technology Co., Ltd. said that for Qitai products to be recognized by manufacturers such as Sany and Zhonglian, they must first have the equivalent of foreign brands. Performance, these manufacturers will conduct dozens of performance tests on the chip internally, and only pass the chip before using Qitai's products. The advantages of using "domestic" instead of "imported" are obvious. Not only does the procurement cost have advantages, the delivery cycle has also changed from a few months or even a year to a week or even a few days, and it will not be due to various reasons. Suddenly inform the interruption of delivery.

“As a chip practitioner, I don’t want to be caught by anyone in any link. We are the only factory-built metal-based pressure-sensitive chip production line in China. We hope that in the next 3 to 5 years, Qitai will have an international presence. Stronger competitiveness has changed the face of China's sensor industry that is neither big nor strong." said Qiu Guoqiu, chairman and general manager of Qitai Sensing.

Expansion of the field, spreading smart fire protection in Changsha

Sitting on the core product of pressure-sensitive chips, Qitai has set its sights on the complete application scenario. In 2016, Qitai established Hunan Qitai Internet of Things Technology Co., Ltd. in Xinchanghai. The person in charge of the company introduced that with the development of the Internet of Things and advanced sensor technology, the informatization of urban construction and management is gradually developing from digitization and networking to automation and intelligence. The construction of smart cities has become the general trend. Using the comprehensive perception of the Internet of Things can effectively improve the city's safety management capabilities, reduce the occurrence of safety production accidents, and is a powerful means to ensure safe production. "Smart Fire Fighting" is an important sub-module under the public safety sector and an important part of the smart public safety application field in the construction of smart cities.

As a result, Qitai has developed a smart fire protection system. The offline part is mainly composed of two products: the intelligent fire hydrant monitoring terminal is installed at the lower flange of the outdoor fire hydrant, and is a device for real-time monitoring of the water pressure, water flow, geographic location, impact and tilt of the fire hydrant. A wireless intelligent digital pressure gauge is a device for real-time monitoring of water pressure, temperature, power data collection and other information in the municipal fire pipe network.

The data collected by these products will organically "link" fire-fighting facilities, fire-fighting supervision and management, fire-fighting and rescue and other elements through advanced technologies such as 5G Internet of Things, big data, and cloud computing, so as to achieve real-time and safe fire-fighting information collection, transmission and processing . The Internet of Things smart fire protection system integrates smoke and temperature monitoring systems, gas pipeline monitoring, electrical fire monitoring systems, fire pipeline monitoring systems, combustible gas monitoring systems, video monitoring, etc., on the platform through the Internet of Things to achieve smart fire protection.

"This system will soon be rolled out in the Changsha Economic Development Zone and Changsha County. In the future, we also hope to use it in large quantities in the urban area of ​​Changsha." The person in charge of Hunan Qitai Internet of Things Technology Co., Ltd. said that the company opened in Changsha Economic Development Zone. The new Changhai service outsourcing base in the district is of course the area has complete supporting facilities and excellent office environment, and more importantly, the market is here. "Starting from the core concept of pressure, there are countless application scenarios, and I believe that Qitai's future also has infinite possibilities."

Source: Red Net Author: Lu Jihua Ou Yaqi Editor: Lu Zhouyang

Original link: https://cs.rednet.cn/content/2021/08/10/9764961.html