AMOS-I

Maintainer

Robert Archer

Primary Designers

Robert Archer

Revision History
Revision 1 12/04/2015

Approved by Assistant Engineering Director Aaron 'Marmot' Colhoun


Table of Contents

History and Technology Evolution
Conclusion

History and Technology Evolution

In 2360 a year after the launch of the Galaxy class explorer USS Galaxy. Starfleet R and D began experimenting with the creation of its first adaptive multipurpose computer platform. The project code named Amy attempted at first to create a true artificial intelligence but difficulties with data storage and the adaptive algorithms involved at the time, prevented this from being a reality. In acceptance of this limit of the technology Starfleet R and D instead focused on an adaptive computer operating system capable of a multitude of computer processing functions.

Many naysayer R and D engineers and scientists argued that the venerable LCARS operating system with the MAJEL interface, proven time and again to be far more reliable then any other so far developed systems combination did not need replacement. Yet the influential designers of Project Amy were not about to have their work so quickly discarded. Calling in favor after favor the lead designers eventually convinced and strong armed enough of the R and D admirals to proceed forward on their own terms and see what would evolve.

Because they did not have the full backing they had at the start of Project Amy the designers reworked their original ideas. Instead of an artificial intelligence they decided to create a new combination operating system and interface for front line starships. Renaming themselves to Project AMOS-I as the year of 2363 came about the engineers and scientists had made little progress in the design of the operating system half of their dream project. However, the interface portion had made many milestones towards completion. Yet in another three years on the eve of 2366 the breakthrough for the algorithms for the operating system occurred after months of intensive work.

Ready to put their pet project to the test they equipped an Oberth class vessel with the AMOS-I setup and compared it to another Oberth testing vessel with the standard LCARS OS and MAJEL interface. Testing crews gave mixed results for the AMOS-I setup compared to the LCARS/MAJEL competitor. From taking input for their project the R and D designers found that while the testing crew found the adaptive functions of the OS and Interface more comfortable the learning curve required to adapt from the standard LCARS/MAJEL was steep, the reviewing R and D admirals were not happy of this part of the test as a result. However, one plus side for the AMOS-I setup was in the operational benchmarks compared to the LCARS/MAJEL competitor AMOS-I performed 33.6% more efficiently and effectively then its counterpart.

This was due in no small part to the ground up building work of the adaptive algorithms. They were designed to first observe a user's habit of operation then assemble the top 15 most commonly used tasks for easy access via tab selection. Furthermore, the algorithms as they evolved developed a personality matrix to match the crew that worked with it. This 'bonding' as the R and D designers called it forged faster response times in critical mission tasks, such as tactical, science and more mundane everyday tasks.

Still despite these improvements compared to the LCARS/MAJEL setup common throughout the fleet the AMOS-I design never got further then the testing stages, mainly because the lead designers in the end could not accept a total rewrite of their base code to make the interface and operations more user friendly like LCARS and MAJEL were.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the AMOS-I while having the potential to revolutionize Starfleet's operating and interface management devices, sadly failed to come into acceptance because of the shortsightedness of its designers and some would say stubborn egos. Perhaps in the future this, for now, shelved project would see the light of day once more when either Starfleet and the Federation decide to embrace the dramatic change AMOS-I would bring or else an eyes wide open designer could merge the best of LCARS/MAJEL to the efficiency of AMOS-I. Till that time the project for all intents remains a back shelf memory that some say was ahead of its time.