This page details the scanner that was created by Sachiko Therwood for use by United Alliance of Neutral Systems, Independents, and the NDC. This was created primarily for use by the starship Engineers to help Engineers with technical work.
The idea of the Tech Scanner came into being one night near the middle of first month since the Therwood Clan had arrived in Kalis System while Sachiko Therwood, a highly skilled tech savant, was having a shower. Her thoughts went to her parents and the other residents of Eselberg Station who might actually hav o leave due to jobs, or missions, or travel.
a profound sense of dread filled her heart at the thought of her mother and the others getting injured as the ship, they served on, sustained damage. Though certain that they had engineers that could make repairs, what terrified her was the thought that maybe, just maybe, they did not know what parts might work for the ship, what wouldn’t be a compatible one might say, so she hurried out of there so fast she was like a streak of light.
Hours, and up to almost mere days were spent in her Sachiko's Tinker Space, and hours talking to her engineering colleagues both at the station and across United Alliance of Neutral Systems seeking new knowledge and tinkering with technology. Finally, she had created something that would work and tested it on a toy star ship that she’d picked up at the Heap. The prototype scanner scanned the toy and scanned her tech. The scanner was able to identify the tech from her hoard that could replace the parts needed to make the toy starship work.
Later, with permission, from the Station Admin, she used the scanner on a broken wreck at a starship junkyard. The Tech Scanner was able to identify parts from other derelict starships in the junkyard that were compatible with the wreck. It allowed her to find what she could use to make the starship she inhabited work as good as new.
On her return, she wrote up the blueprints and then sent them out to corporations that she thought would find the design useful and her grandmother, Ichika, hoping that they, too, would find it useful.
The Tech Scanner was the third thing to be created by Sachiko Therwood. Her experience during the creation process of the Virtual Reality Sleep Device and her talks with other engineers only helped her to create this.
The Tech Scanner is a scanner type of technology with hardware and software. The actual size of the hardware depends on the ship it is installed on, with the major factions and groups capable of having a sleeper round-designed appearance. Sachiko’s experience with creation has ensured that the device is compact across its various size profiles. The Tech Scanner can be connected to pre-existing scanning hardware, so long as it is capable of scanning at a sufficient level of detail.
The Tech Scanner, created by Sachiko Therwood, is a scanner type technology that uses penetrative scans to identify components within an object. It can compare those components to a connected database to make recommendations of what is salvageable, what isn't, and what the database says the various components within can do.
Additional scans after this may allow the Scanner to identify new components based on the components it originally identified and what those are typically connected to, even if the components are damaged. This can assist engineers in understanding the purpose of a device, how its parts might be repurposed, or what parts could be used to replace defective or damaged parts.
The Tech Scanner has an internal database of common, commercially-available components, including their general size, shape, purpose, and potential replacements. This database can be augmented via secure connection to a larger parts database, such as one operated by UNS or the New Dusk Conclave, allowing it to identify and make recommendations on parts restricted to those factions.
The Tech Scanner requires a biometric key to use and access the parts information stored within. In the event that it loses a connection to a remote database, it will clear its own database of any sensitive data. This adds to the nation security keeping both New Dusk Conclave and United Alliance of Neutral Systems safe from the advantage over the other.
The scan emits a visible light while in operation. The light appears to be a square grid with a brighter, thicker light moving across the grid while it scans an object.
The light is bright enough that if someone were to get in the way of an object being scanned, the light could blind them.
The Tech Scanner supports a variety of mind-machine interfaces for database authorization and improved HUD capabilities.
Because of being integrated into the UNS ship systems, the Tech Scanner, the Database, and the additional Applications are connected to the UNS Network, systems and because of that, the Tech Scanner is capable to be controlled via a Control device interface in most ships. This is mainly controlled by the Personnel that stands at the sensor station.
The New Dusk Conclave uses the Geist to control their ships, as a result of that, the Tech Scanner can be made to be accessible using that system. Much like before, the Tech Scanner, the Database, and the additional Applications are connected and can be controlled by the Geist used by the NDC.
The scanner's built-in database is extensive, containing a regularly updated list of parts pulled from various public parts databases. This database can be expanded via a connection to one or more other databses, such as a secure parts directory provided by the Neutral Systems Government or NDC Government.
The database included in the scans will also allow the scanner to analyze the parts and components within an object, where those fit, and potentially make some recommendations about where they could be used- whether in/on a ship or perhaps for a planetary settlement.
Should the scanner identify a part that it is not in its database, it will attempt to make an educated guess based on other similar parts within its database.
Below are some applications that the Tech Scanner can be used for.
The Engineers can get a lot of data via scanning. The scanner can provide a lot of data, including how big something was and how much power it will need to make it compatible with any given starship to make it function.
After scanning and data retrieval, engineers can use the Tech Scanner to make modifications to the ship if they need to. The Tech Scanner can help engineers ensure that their ship's drives and weapons are operating at peak efficiency. The Scanner can identify parts that are worn down or out of date, simplifying the maintenance process. For older drives and weapons, the addition of new parts may even improve their performance somewhat.
Should the Tech Scanner identify a component that is not in its database, it will attempt to identify its purpose. To do this, it will compare the mystery component's location, connections, power consumption, and other available properties with the components within its database. This is not a perfect process, but it can be of great use to an engineer when dealing with unknown technology.
Scanning wreckage for technology to repair a ship is meant to be a temporary fix, considering the damage the piece had received as well as their damaged parts, and is primarily meant to allow the ship to return home to make proper repairs. Once home, however, the data gained from scanning their damaged machinery can be used to order new part/s for the ship.
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