Post 16

Posted on Sat Nov 29th, 2014 @ 1:08pm by Commander Dewitt Cayne & Commander Leo Carpegiani PhD

Mission: Begin with a Bang
Location: Discovery NX-04, Earth Orbit Drydock
Timeline: May 13th, 2155 - 0950 hours

Commander Dewitt Cayne was still struggling to get his priorities straight between First Officer and Armoury Officer but this was definitely a pet project for the Armoury. He had noticed a distinct drop-off in individual target isolation in the latest brand of tricorders being used by Earth's Starfleet.

They were still a significant upgrade on the handhelds that the Vulcans used, at least in terms of threat detection, but Cayne was sure that this could be improved.

"Well here is your problem," Carpegiani said, pointing to the amorphous blob on the tricorder display and leaning toward Cayne to show him. "It cannot differentiate between multiple targets within a restricted space."

Cayne glanced quickly around the room, fairly certain that Carpegiani had just echoed the exact problem that he had gone in with back to him as some kind of solution. "Is there a way to refine its scanner to be able to display individual targets? I don't like the idea of going into a room and not knowing what I'm facing."

The Chief Science Officer made a noise that might have been agreement, or might have meant he didn't hear what Cayne said. He brought the tricorder up closer to his face and examined it like this was the first time he had ever seen the device. "Hmm," he repeated. "I can see why that would be important."

"I thought so." Cayne replied, getting the impression that he wasn't being listened to. "There's too much margin for error in a lot of Starfleet processes, not least the Armoury."

"I do not understand why the engineers would not simply amplify the resolution or increase the frequency of the scan waves," Carpegiani said. He looked like his mind was ticking over for a moment and then he shrugged dismissively. "But maybe they encountered practical problems and had to sacrifice resolution for extended battery life or aesthetic design?"

"So can you sort it or wh-"

The scientist interrupted him, apparently not listening. "Naturalmente!" he exclaimed, clicking a finger as something occurred to him. "The tricorder uses many different scanning technologies to reproduce an holistic sensory output via the primary interface, yes?"

Cayne took a moment to sort out the words and their order. "I wouldn't put it in as many words but yes."

"So," Carpegiani continued, clearly excited by his train of thought. "Perhaps the ... the more sensitive detectors are being dragged down to lower resolutions by the less sensitive detectors? If you were to reduce the output of the quantum spectrum imager, that might reduce the aliasing effect we are seeing on the interface. The trade off is that you necessarily sacrifice more detailed sensor reports, but you should have more clarity on the number of targets in that next room. Capire?"

"Not really." Cayne was honest. He had always had trouble following the train of thought of scientists and engineers when they got off on one and the chances of him making sense of Carpegiani's train of thought were next to none. "Are you saying we'd need two types of tricorders? One for science and one for threat detection?"

"No no no no no," Carpegiani shook his head and turned the tricorder over in his hand. He started tapping the back of the device. "In here, there are different types of scanning technologies. You have a thermographer, spectrometer, quantum spectrum imager even a barometer in here. All of these devices work away in the background -" he made some buzzing noises while flashing his fingers in the air in front of Cayne - "and the processor collates the data, interprets it and displays it," he flipped the tricorder back over and tapped the screen, "here."

Cayne stared blankly at the scientist, unable to process anything he was saying.

"So!" Carpegiani continued, sounding like a high school science teacher. "It takes all of this data from different sources and throws it up on the interface. But, what happens when you overlay a rudimentary quantum spectrum imager output over a traditional thermographic report?"

"I have absolutely no idea." He stated flatly.

Carpegiani tapped the amorphous blob on the screen. "This, Commander," he said, with a hint of irritation. "This is what happens. Obviously the manufacturer of this device determined that it was more efficient to forget such an obvious piece of scientific knowledge."

"Probably made them more money that way." Cayne said cynically. "How do you fix it?"

"If we can lower the sensitivity of the quantum spectrum imager," Carpegiani continued, "that will result in less aliasing and distortion of the thermographer's output, which should mean a more precise sensory report on the number of bodies in the next room. It will be less accurate, however, on some detail such as medical telemetry on the target."

Cayne's blank stare continued unabated. He had no idea what the scientist was talking about and his wild eyes and excited tone were grating his already lacking scientific knowledge. "How long will it take?"

The science officer furrowed his brow and cocked his head to the side. "I have no idea," he said and handed the tricorder back to Cayne. "I'm a scientist, not an engineer."