Jack Sandrow
Writer, Character, Invasive Species
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create an 'autonomous' probe for Sylva Vitae
- Image Source: Me, I made it!
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Sylva Motus, through Sylva Vitae
- Affiliation: Sylva Vitae
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: Lianna-class Scout Glider - SMSV-5.0.1
- Modularity: No
- Production: Limited
- Material: Plem cells, F. conexias
- Classification: Scout glider
- Role: Reconnaissance
- Size: Very Small (0.5 m x 0.3 m x 0.03 m)
- Weight: Extremely Light
- Armaments: None
- Defenses: None
- Maneuverability Rating: Low
- Speed Rating: Average
- Propulsion: Airfoil & thermodynamics
- Minimum Crew: 0
- Optimal Crew: 0
- Passenger Capacity: 0
- Cargo Capacity: None
- Entirely automatic
- Very low Force visibility
- Thin and small profile
- Extremely cheap manufacturing
- Extremely small profile makes it almost undetectable
- Almost invisible Force presence makes it an outlier for Sylva Vitae biotech
- Ease of manufacture makes it cheap and easy to reproduce as necessary
- Zero propulsion leaves this drone at the whim of the air and weather
- No defenses or armor makes it quite easy to destroy
- Requires a direct contact with an SV-compatible setup in order to transmit any information - live feeds are inherently impossible
This glider is comprised of a small thin 'seed' with two bract 'wings' that are thin enough and wide enough to be affected by wind and heat, but sturdy enough to provide a rigid structure to the craft. Before deployment, thousands of seeds can be packed into a single 'fruit' to be deployed from the air. When the seeds dry out enough, they fall from the pod and the bracts spread wide to begin gliding in their slow descent to the ground. Each seed collects data by sensing the environment when it begins to settle (around 200 meters above the ground), and eventually landing to begin passively collecting information around it. A single drone is capable of an approx. 170 m radius circle of detection until landing. Approximately 100 drones are required to thoroughly cover 1 square kilometer. Once these drones are retrieved by other Sylva Vitae biotech, the information can be transmitted and interpreted to provide intel on the approximate makeup of the targeted area.
The Lianna-class scout glider is designed to be an extremely cheap, almost entirely inconspicuous drone scout. Able to be constructed en masse, deployed over a large area, and used for reconnaissance, its use is for quick and cheap information gathering. The data captured by the seed in the center of the glider does need to be directly connected to Sylva Vitae biotech in order to 'transmit' any gleaned info. As the glider is powered solely by wind and heat, it cannot be controlled directly, but its ease of creation and production makes it next to effortless to reproduce and redeploy as necessary.
