Navigation Computer
The Navigation subsystem takes care of the following functions.
- Handling Navigation Officer input.
- Entry of a new course.
- Entry of a new velocity.
- Accepting and processing an "establish orbit" request.
- Accepting and processing "evasive tactics" when no threat is present.
The primary input method are the switches and buttons at the right-hand side, bottom section.
The switches are used to enter a value. This value can be an X-, Y- or Z-coordinate, a course
vector angle, or a warp or impulse engine velocity setting. The buttons are used to invoke a
specific entry request. With the keyboard you can enter a name of an object for a destination.
This keyboard is also used when you enter the name of a target for a phaserbank firing action
or the launch of a photon torpedo or anti-matter probe.
- Handling Navigation Officer output.
- Update of the Navigation Position Display.
- Issue warning messages when entering or leaving a territory.
- Issue warning messages when the Star Ship is on a collision course.
The estimated remaining time to collision is also given.
On the Navigation Position Display you can read the current position of the StarShip in the
universe. During the entry of a new course coordinate or vector this display is used for
entry feedback. The small CRT on the right-hand side, mid section, is used for feedback
when a course to an object is requested. The CRT is also used by the Tactical Computer when
an offensive weapon must be deployed and the target can be identified by a name.
- Calculation of the course trajectory.
The Navigation Computer calculates every second the amount of distance and direction the StarShip has traveled
in space.
The Navigation Position Display is updated accordingly.
Also performed, every second,
is an extrapolation of what the position would be in the coming ten seconds. When something would
be hit in this time interval, the Navigation Computer issues a warning message on the CRT. The
message states that the StarShip is on a collision course with the identified object and it reports
the estimated time of impact. Since this is a real-time simulation, you can be certain to find
yourself in real big trouble after those seconds have elapsed!
Future developments
At this moment, the calculations only take the velocity of the StarShip into account. Refinements
in the software could take into account the gravitational pull of celestial objects such as stars,
planets, black holes and worm holes. Also the pull of a tractor beam would influence the course heading ...
An other improvement would be a bigger resolution for the calculations, for example every 300 milliseconds.
However, this implies that the main screen and several other components must be updated accordingly faster,
which might lead to performance problems.