Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To make a standardized nav computer in Lucerne Labs's product catalog
- Image Source: here
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
- Affiliation: Directorate, Silver Jedi Concord, Lucerne Labs Customers
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: Circino-series Nav Computer
- Modularity: various software and AI can be added to its memory banks; can easily be integrated with other software and vessel systems; common computer mods (additional memory units, microprocessors, etc)
- Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: Agrinium casing, Calor-series Bio-computers, Biolux Organoform Circuitry, Bia series Portable Fusion Generators, software code & various electronics
- Dead Reckoning: Circino comes with its own unique version of dead-reckoning software, primarily to help the ship reorient itself after emergency hyperjumps or in the case of data corruption from physical damage or computer viruses. It can run effectively based on inertia guidance, calculating a ship's approximate position and intended course based on its last known location. It also comes with an ability to access a ship's sensors and attempt to triangulate its position based on the known orientation of stars, effectively acting like an automated astrogation plotter.
- Sensor Augmented: While most hyperdrives and nav computers are linked to the ship's sensors in order for hyperdrive inhibitors to safely revert the ship to realspace, Circino does not only this, but also uses sensor data to augment its own database feed. Most of this is simply automation of an already existing features - making sure chart feed data is accurate and up to date. However, using exact, real time sensor data gathered by the ship's sensors also means that routes can be cut closer to mass shadows as the safety margin needs to be less, resulting in improved transit times and less fuel consumption. It also can allow the ship to change course while still in hyperspace if a new, previously unknown mass shadow is detected, making it useful in exploration or avoiding artificially generated mass shadows. However, the effectiveness of this feature relies heavily on the quality of the sensor data being provided to it - which may be poor if the ship's sensors are poor or are being degraded somehow by jamming or natural phenomena. Because of these potential problems, Circino can also take in and process information from outside sources, either sensors, hyperspace beacons, or other transmitted data to try and cope with these issues.
- Overclocked Processing: Circino takes full advantage of Calor-series Bio-Computers ability to internally reconfigure itself, allowing some functions to be placed in a lower priority to allow for significantly faster processing by parallel computing. This allows Circino to very quickly make course adjustments in hyperspace in conjunction with its integration with sensors as well as calculate safe emergency jumps. Perhaps most tactically important, it allows Circino to focus all of its available resources to quickly calculate nano-jumps and precision hyperspace jumps, allowing vessels to quickly shift positions over short periods of time, even in the presence of gravity wells.
- Smart Assistance: Circino can act in assistive matter, suggesting alternate routes based on fuel savings, avoiding dangerous phenomena, or suggesting routes that take the user's ship to different points, such as starship repair or fueling facilities. It also warns users if the routes will cross political boundaries and suggest alternative routes to try and avoid political entanglements.
- Power Computer: Circino's bio-computers provide it with excellent and flexible processing, allowing it make microjumps, suggest fuel efficient routes, or provide smart route assistance depending on the crew's needs.
- Phenomena Resistant: Circino uses both organoform and biocomputers rather than conventional computer systems, which provides the system with a defense in principle. This makes the using vessels less susceptible to disruptions from electromagnetic pulses, either found naturally by certain stellar phenomena, or from different weapons such as ion cannons or mag pulse warheads.
- Esoteric Repair: While the living nature of biocomputers and organoform circuitry mean that they can heal themselves through natural processes, it also makes them more difficult to repair if damaged because of the nonstandard and complex nature of the biotechnology involved.
- Sensor Feed Reliant: Many of Circino's special features rely on sensor feed, which adds a wrinkle of complexity - sensor feed may not be entirely reliable due to sensor jamming or naturual phenomena, or it may outright be very poor to nonexistent if the ship's sensors themselves are poor, damaged, or hacked.
Navigation computers are vital component in starships, providing them with the guidance necessary to make hyperspace jumps, yet there have been relatively few developments in them over the years. Seeking to provide another edge to its customers, Lucerne Labs took their advanced bio-computer technology and attempted to leverage the flexible processing power of this technology to provide a number of small benefits.
The foremost of these benefits is the ability to calculate complex jumps quickly, allowing ships to make quick nano-jumps within planetary systems during pitched battles or safe, emergency jumps in case of unexpected complications. Other more minor benefits include dead reckoning abilities to help reorient, more fuel and time efficient route plotting due to real time sensor feed course correction, and smart route planning assistance.
As Lucerne Labs has already invested and substantially developed its bio-computer technology over the years, Circino has been quickly be introduced en mass to the company's latest starship designs, quickly making it a standard feature on many of its ships, from shuttles and light freighters to massive star destroyers and battlecruisers.
