After a long and grueling process, we’ve finally gone to the RP elsewhen using a Tesla II pod paired with the 5.0 Translocation Control System. Due to the slightly outdated operating system on the 5.0 hardware, we had to make several updates to the system to make it compatible with new software that controls certain aspects of the Russell Process. This latest experiment has given us great insight into the inner workings of the Russell Process, as well as shown us certain problems that we still have to tackle to have a reliable and safe translocation system. Among these problems are physical anomalies; for some reason it appears that pods are not entirely in phase after being translocated, and are able to “phase” through certain objects. While this may seem like a good thing, offering our VGL pilots a certain advantage in exploring new elsewhens, we wouldn’t want our pilots to become used to this unpredictable effect.

We are also still working on getting the new control software to properly collect, process, and display sensory data from the remote pod to all the MFD’s. Currently, the system only presents primary visuals and audio data.

Ryan “Apophis” Bunker, VGC R&D

Just last week we achieved the first successful translocation using a Tesla II Pod. Although this has been done thousands of times in the past (previous trips to RP were done using Tesla II pods, although these were controlled using the 4.10 Translocation Control System hardware) it is still a major advancement, as it shows that the new control software being written to take advantage of the Russell Process will work with the existing pod hardware.

We continue to work diligently towards commercial translocations to RP using the 5.0 TCS and gantry hardware with the Tesla II pods.

Ryan “Apophis” Bunker, VGC R&D