How do birds or other objects impact CENTAURI operation?

When objects block the line of sight between two linked Centauri devices, the data link will break.

If a bird or other object transits the line of sight, then the break in the connection should be momentary and will be barely noticeable in terms of the impact on performance.

If any object interrupts the line of sight for more than a few milliseconds, then the link will go down and it will only recover when the object blocking the path of the laser is removed.

So, for example, if a building site sits between two linked Centauri devices and a crane operates across the line of sight between those devices, every time the crane crosses the path of the Centauri link the connection will go down. This kind of interruption in the connection will have a marked negative impact on the performance of the link.

Please note that no birds or other animals have ever been harmed in the course of testing CENTAURI. The assessment of potential disruption of links due to birds transiting through CENTAURI's laser beam is based upon calculations related to the airspeed of an unladen swallow.