Tools Chemical Cuilometer

Discussion in 'Approved' started by Ryanatorx, Jan 12, 2021.

  1. Ryanatorx

    Ryanatorx Galactic Officer Community Monitor Gold Donator

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    Name: Chemical Cuilometer
    AKA: Noskov Detector

    Description: A small red rectangle with an LED display listing a numeric and units. There are two small buttons on the left, one larger button on the right, a power switch on the side, and a port for batteries on the back. On the top of the device are two port-covers labeled with a + and a -, which when opened allows the insertion of the chemical strips necessary for operation. The top of the device is labeled 'NOSKOV,' and there is a small label below the display with the Lapetian Authority logo.

    The 'strips' are small white strips of paper, not unlike pH test strips in appearance.

    The cheapest models are sold for as little as 100 px, but the more expensive models run up to as high as 2000 px, and become significantly heavier with the rise in price. The strips are fairly cheap, sold in packs of 20 for 5 px, or packs of 100 for 20 px.
    [​IMG]
    Abilities:
    -Measures cuils and anticuils
    -Makes a clicking noise as it enters both positive and negative ranges
    -Fairly cheap to manufacture

    Conditional Abilities:
    -The Atlas cuilometers come calibrated for cuils, not just Noskov rate

    Limitations:
    -Heavy for an object of its size (~700 grams)
    -Can become uncalibrated or unfunctional if damaged
    -Needs batteries
    -Requires chemical strips (aka Fernsby Strips) to make readings, and only makes readings when the strips are inserted
    -Chemical strips are useless after being used to measure, and must be disposed of
    -Cannot detect fluctuations from -1‽ to 1‽, as space-dependent reactions are not frequent enough for the rate to be significant
    -Can only detect cuils to the first decimal accurately
    -More expensive variants become heavier

    Conditional Limitations (Optional):
    -More expensive models are heavier, due to the insulation layers. The most expensive devices are up to 2.5 kg.
    -Until other manufacturers copy the design, they only come from Atlas
    -Requires calibration to give familiar units. Unless calibrated with either a known cuil source or with a Visitant cuilometer, it gives units of ions per microsecond (aka the Noskov Rate), a representation of how fast the space-dependent reaction is occurring
    -Can be miscalibrated by accident fairly easily
    -In extreme electrical, magnetic, thermal, or gravitational conditions, the device can become inaccurate by virtue of other environmental effects influencing the rate of the reaction. High temperatures result in 'higher' readings than expected, and lower temperatures result in 'lower' readings than expected. Other extreme conditions tend to apply a less predictable inaccuracy.

    How does it work:
    The primary operating principles of the device is kinematics. In heightened ECF locations, different chemical reactions occur. The rate at which these reactions occur increases with increasing ECF. Similarly, negative ECF results in a separate unique set of chemical reactions, which increase in rate as ECF becomes more negative. The resulting rates can be compared to Visitant cuilometers, assigning rates to cuils and creating unit comparisons.

    The Atlas-brand cuilometer has a fairly simple design. The top-port allows the insertion of chemical strips, which are to be stored in anomobuffer solutions until they are to be used. Those solutions are notable for containing chemicals which do not react with the strips in any space, and are very cheap. Once the strips are inserted, they interact with the internal fluid, and the chemical reactions occur. The strips do not contain very much reactive material intentionally, giving the device itself a fairly long lifetime before its internal chemicals need to be replaced. The '+' port is for cuil measurement, and reacts with the 'cuil side' of the strips when beyond the 1 cuil threshold. The '-' port is for anticuil measurement, and reacts with the 'anticuil side' of the strips when beyond the -1 cuil threshold. The rate of reaction is recorded and displayed on the front of the device.

    There are several layers of insulation, depending on the version purchased. Such optional insulations include a thin aegisalt layering to reduce EM interference, a layer of frozium to reduce thermal interference, and a layer of cerulium to reduce radiation interference. Some models include a faraday cage. These more expensive versions of the cuilometer are able to operate with accuracy in more extreme environments, but are not necessary for most applications.

    Other noteworthy components include a breaker (which is a major source of weight on the device) and the battery slot on the back. Should the chemical bath become completely spent, the device can be disassembled and the bath replaced, but this process is not particularly easy, so given the price and lifetime of the device, it is almost certainly easier and cheaper to buy a new one.

    Flavor text:
    "We need some way to measure negative cuils. Visitant alphas just die when they're exposed. If we are to achieve what we have set out to do, we must first be able to see where we're putting out feet." -Viceroy Xexanoth of Atlas, 3287

    The Atlas cuilometer development began with the acquisition of a cuil seed from the enigmatic Veiled Voyager. VV would continue to be a major contributor to the research and development of the cuilometer and associated projects, along with Dr. Lorette Fernsby Luo and Kristina Noskov. The secluded facility where the cuil seed is stored provided key to the research, as it allowed known constant cuil levels to be experimented with. Ultimately, it was Noskov who assembled the device, and Veiled Voyager who carried it to Hyperspace for the first test of its ability.

    The negative measurement, which is the true application of the chemical cuilometer, was tested shortly after first with proximity to normantium, and then later in Ordo, allowing the first measurement of 'negative cuils.'

    Cuilometers were subsequently put into manufacturing and marketing, making them commonplace on all Atlas vessels and equipment, and available to the greater Fringe.

    Referenced Technologies (Optional): Visitant Cuilometer, Cuil Seed

    Attainability: Open

    Tags: [Civilian]

    Category: Tools
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2021
    Cheffy likes this.
  2. PrivateNomad

    PrivateNomad There goes my hero, watch him as he goes Staff Member Technician Gold Donator Event Builder

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    I'll be the first grader for this.

    To begin, chemical reactions don't really increase or decrease in speed under higher or lower ECF - that would kinda fuck physics and biology as a whole. What does happen is certain chemical reactions that normally couldn't happen in higher ECF could happen - for example, the primary reason why interloper species die in realspace is because the proteins and shit making up their body are formed anomalously, which revert or break down in realspace. Negative cuils kind of do the opposite; in negative cuils, certain chemical reactions are more difficult or impossible to complete, especially reactions vital to the formation of organic compounds. Negative cuils instead favor more ordered reactions such as crystallization.

    This doesn't mean it just doesn't work, but it will probably be worse. You couldn't have a chemical clock that just told you what the ECF was, but you could have something that worked like a disposable test strip that you could insert into the device to tell you a very rough ECF based on what reactions could take place at that ECF. The device would just start the reactions on the test strip chemicals, measure them, and use machine learning algorithms to output an ECF level based on what ECF those reactions would most likely correspond to. The test strips would then be disposed, since the byproducts aren't really useful.

    Sorry if somebody told you the lore was something else, but this is the way I understand it and the way it was intended to be.

    Pending
     
  3. Ryanatorx

    Ryanatorx Galactic Officer Community Monitor Gold Donator

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    I made significant edits after our discussions in private.
    -Now requires chemical strips inserted into chemical baths, one for cuils and one for anticuils, in order to make measurements
    -Inaccuracy based on environmental conditions, which can be reduced by spending more money on insulation
    -No longer a clock
    -Removed all mentions of entropy, instead focusing completely on kinematics
    -Other stuff that I forgot to mention

    If there's other stuff that needs changes, let me know!
     
  4. PrivateNomad

    PrivateNomad There goes my hero, watch him as he goes Staff Member Technician Gold Donator Event Builder

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    Lookin saucy. Just two small things:
    1. I'd reduce its precision down to a single decimal
    2. How much are these babies being sold for?
    Pending
     
  5. Ryanatorx

    Ryanatorx Galactic Officer Community Monitor Gold Donator

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    Added pricing and reduced precision! High profit margin device.
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2021
  6. PrivateNomad

    PrivateNomad There goes my hero, watch him as he goes Staff Member Technician Gold Donator Event Builder

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    What's the difference between cheap and expensive models?
     
  7. Ryanatorx

    Ryanatorx Galactic Officer Community Monitor Gold Donator

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    The expensive models have fancy linings in them, which also increases the weight. The operational difference is that they keep their accuracy under different environmental conditions. For instance, a frozium lining ups the cost and weight, but all but removes thermal interference
     
  8. PrivateNomad

    PrivateNomad There goes my hero, watch him as he goes Staff Member Technician Gold Donator Event Builder

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    Passed
     
  9. Khaos

    Khaos Purple Man Impervium Donator

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    Pass