John Locke
V U L K A N
[SIZE=11pt]OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Intent:[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]To create a component for use in later Locke and Key Mechanics submissions.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Image Source:[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]The Next Web[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Canon Link:[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]N/A[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Restricted Missions:[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]N/A[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Primary Source:[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt](Please link and cite the sources which you are modifying for your use in your submission.)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]PRODUCTION INFORMATION[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Manufacturer:[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Locke and Key Mechanics[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Model:[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Minerva HUD System[/SIZE]
Affiliation: Locke and Key Mechanics
[SIZE=11pt]Modularity:[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]No[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Production: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Mass Produced[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Material:[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Duraplast, Holoprojector, Electronics Components, various sensors[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]SPECIAL FEATURES[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Provides an Advanced UI and H.U.D. System[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Displays data and communications provided over commlinks.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Displays data on the system (either armour or starship), you are connected to.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Individual sensors can be toggled on and off as needed.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Includes:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Multi-Spectral target assessor[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Multi-Frequency Targeting and Acquisition System[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Annunciator[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Aural Amplifier[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Targeting Visor[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Heavy Targeting Optics[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Heads-up Display[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Enhanced Optical Suite[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Sonic Dampener[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]G.P.S.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Radar[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]LIDAR[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Ability to Zoom up to 20x[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Environmental Sensors (temperature, gas)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Strengths:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The More You Know: With data from Sensors placed all over the armour or ship it is connected to the Minerva system is able to build up a picture of the battlespace providing you with more information and tactical options.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Improved accuracy: The Minerva is able to use the sensors and built-in systems to allow the user to improve their accuracy, providing an aiming reticule for any weapons allowing more shots to be fired on target.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Enhanced sight: The Minerva is capable of using a variety of optical overlays to assist its user sophisticated passive light amplification, thermal signature reading, ultrasound pickup, passive millimeter wave emission, augmented reality and common optical enhancement.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Communications aid: The Minerva system is able to throw up video screens for communication, display data sent or even indicate who is talking to provide easy access to data and an optimised communications experience even in the middle of battle. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Augmented Reality: One version of the visual overlay creates an augmented reality where key objects and individuals can be highlighted as the system provides additional data on them. The system has only a limited capacity for storage, and would require the use of a commlink to access a larger store of data but is able to highlight proposed paths, targets, allies and other important objects for the user, or to be shared with their squad. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Weaknesses:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]There’s such a thing as too much information:[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] The sheer amount of information that the Minerva is able to generate can be overwhelming to a first time user, or even an experienced user. The system comes with a limiter, although this cuts down on the effectiveness of the sensors. The information can be especially annoying for a force user who already has access to the same information, leading to a Force User mode where passive collection is the name of the game. Because of the overwhelming flood of information, the Minerva mostly filters the information, throwing up what it believes to be important, what it’s programming highlights. It is possible to adjust the programming or to disable the limiter, but not many individuals are capable of handling the sheer flow of data. Those individuals who aren't able to handle the stream of data are left to rely on the Minerva to summarise and pull up the data they need, a program that can be predicted and tricked if you know what you're doing.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Vulnerable: The Minerva is very reliant on external sensors to build up a picture, sensors that can easily be disrupted by jammers leaving the system reliant on its internal calculations. EM disruption or ion blasts can be the most dangerous since there is no way to repair the sensor short or replacing it, leaving the system and its user stripped of a key part of the system. If the armour is hacked, the Minerva can be compromised as well, altering the visual and otehr information presented to the user.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Proprietary Tech: The nature of the threaded sensors that make up the system and the programming involved in the HUD means that it is not a plug and play module but needs to be placed in an armour that is built to accommodate it. To do otherwise is to reduce the Minerva to a very expensive, overly capable heads-up display.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]DESCRIPTION[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Having a powerful, capable suit of armour isn’t always enough to gain superiority on the battlefield. Sometimes, if you want to be the best it’s not always about what you can do, it’s what you can see, what you know. It was with this in mind that Locke and Key Mechanics began development of the Minerva System. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The System is designed to assist the user by providing them with an advanced interface through which to view the world. The most basic function of the Minerva system is to provide a heads-up display for the user. This portrays a variety of basic information, targeting reticles, ammunition counts, an overview of the armour or ship you’re piloting to show damage or situations, a variety of communications aids (video, names of the speakers etc). [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]While this was the basic HUD display provided by most armours, but Locke and Key wanted to go a step further than that. They wanted to provide their users with a tool that could give them an advantage in a Warfield where powered armour was becoming more and more common. To do this, they went back to that most important factor of the battlefield, knowledge. Locke and key realised that when building an armour system they had the ability to seed the armour with more than just the basic visual sensors. They created a network of sensors, of sound, aural and radar that allowed the user of the Minerva to construct an image of the battlefield around them. Through the use of the Radar and Lidar modules, they were able to locate their targets, before the HUD’s targeting systems could help the user to bring down the target. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]That’s not to say that the system was all-powerful, as with anything, there are negative issues that balanced out the system’s strengths. The system is able to generate a lot of data, an almost overwhelming amount of it. While this can be initially overwhelming, once you get used to it, the ability to sense the world around you in this way it can provide a strong advantage on the battlefield. Albeit one that is vulnerable to damage or ion strikes. Without the sensors the system is unable to create the battlespace image it is built around, being reduced to a targeting and communications assistant.[/SIZE]
