intresting uses of grav tech?

[savage]

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the Starship Wanderer. Over 18 miles long. It simply isn't possible to draw all the decks although with CC3 I may finish on my idea to make generic decks.
.

When we can actually build things that large, there will be a lot of standard modules incorporated into the design like cruise ships, office buildings, etc.
You only really need a few representative examples; luxury and standard stateroom section, entertainment section, Ag section, etc.

I also think regional mapping is nice for large scale. I have a few large scale that i need to get into cc3 and work out.

 

[JimMarn]

When we can actually build things that large, there will be a lot of standard modules incorporated into the design like cruise ships, office buildings, etc.
You only really need a few representative examples; luxury and standard stateroom section, entertainment section, Ag section, etc.

I also think regional mapping is nice for large scale. I have a few large scale that i need to get into cc3 and work out.

I do have some forests and recreation sections in Wanderer.

My 1e ad&d site has some large maps: http://crestar.drivein-jim.net/thegreatopen/dwarfhomesite.html Dwarf Home, my version of Moria. That is the entrance page of Dwarf Home. Each 'level' link is to a set of maps that shows the entire level. The smallest level is 4, about an acre or two. The rest are larger.

 

[robject]

To be frank, anti-gravity and artificial gravity technology are so useful, I'd guess we cannot imagine how much it'd revolutionize society.

Land value will change: it no longer costs much extra to put a building *here* versus *there*: only distance matters. Think about that a bit. The commercial center of a city doesn't need to huddle around a few square miles, locked in a transportation grid.

Buildings with flyer-only access. Small cities in the middle of a managed wilderness, or on the slopes of jagged mountain ranges.

Flight could become as commonplace as travel by bus or train. Island paradises become more accessible.

Surface-to-orbit becomes about as cheap as flight; one major barrier to insystem travel nearly vanishes.

 

[Carlobrand]

... Think about that a bit. ... Small cities in the middle of a managed wilderness, ...

Hey! That's shadow pollution! Don't block the sun, dude!

 

[kilemall]

Grav uses to me are instrumental to interstellar Traveller tech.

• Gravitic presses that create gigapascal pressures that help make advanced materials, fusion initiation/bottling, solid hydrogen fuel and metallic hydrogen capacitors.
• Slowly moving vehicles and materials without atmo heat effects from fast liftoff/reentry.
• Deflectors/repulsors that safely move most microparticles out of the way of ships just prior to impact and promote hull integrity/longevity at speed.

 

[willtron3030]

A team of three or more stevedores at low ports can use strategically placed lifters on tethers to gently maneuver 4dt and 8dT cargo containers[1] in tight quarters. In high ports and orbital cargo marshaling yards, four or more 'stevs' can use magnetic grapples with low-power reactionless grav thrusters.

Some workers become adept at grappling the cargo handling attachment points on containers from short distances by throwing or swinging the tethered grapples.

On high LL worlds, those same dock workers may often be seen in the low port startown wearing rope or webbing belts with small weights sewn or braided into the ends. In extremis those cinctures can be repurposed as a melee weapon (cf: rope dart, bolo, kusari fundo). it's a far less obvious weapon than the the short lengths of salvaged high pressure tubing tucked into those same belts...

[1] referred to as 'TEU' and 'FEU' containers, for reasons lost to history

 

[Adam Dray]

Localized gravity curvature around a cutlass could make a super-sharp blade that is very light and maneuverable.

 

[Condottiere]

More likely that the blade is programmed to activate a gravity generator on the downswing for a split second.

 

[Grav_Moped]

Grav uses to me are instrumental to interstellar Traveller tech.

• Gravitic presses that create gigapascal pressures that help make advanced materials, fusion initiation/bottling, solid hydrogen fuel and metallic hydrogen capacitors.
• Slowly moving vehicles and materials without atmo heat effects from fast liftoff/reentry.
• Deflectors/repulsors that safely move most microparticles out of the way of ships just prior to impact and promote hull integrity/longevity at speed.

Micro- or zero-gravity manufacturing processes at sea level, not in orbit (though orbital manufacturing becomes cheap as well).

Weather control (assuming deflector/repulsor capability)

Excavation, mining, and construction techniques.

In addition to the obvious 0G elevator-less elevator shafts, very fast elevators that aren't limited by acceleration effects on the passengers.

Elevated walkways without visible handrails.

 

[Grav_Moped]

"For tonight's performance, the role of Frank Lloyd Wright will be played by M.C. Escher."

 

[Timerover51]

A team of three or more stevedores at low ports can use strategically placed lifters on tethers to gently maneuver 4dt and 8dT cargo containers[1] in tight quarters. In high ports and orbital cargo marshaling yards, four or more 'stevs' can use magnetic grapples with low-power reactionless grav thrusters.

Some workers become adept at grappling the cargo handling attachment points on containers from short distances by throwing or swinging the tethered grapples.

On high LL worlds, those same dock workers may often be seen in the low port startown wearing rope or webbing belts with small weights sewn or braided into the ends. In extremis those cinctures can be repurposed as a melee weapon (cf: rope dart, bolo, kusari fundo). it's a far less obvious weapon than the the short lengths of salvaged high pressure tubing tucked into those same belts...

[1] referred to as 'TEU' and 'FEU' containers, for reasons lost to history

You might be able to gently lift things like big containers, but moving them is going to be a different story. Moving them means getting all of that inertial mass accelerated and decelerated. Figuring 5 tons mass per Traveller dTon, you are looking at between 20 and 40 TONS moving and then STOPPING. Have you ever seen a forklift with a heavy pallet going too fast and then hitting the brakes? The pallet does not stop, but sails off of the forks and slams into the row of pallets that the pallet was to be added too. With luck, only the traveling pallet and the one that it hits are damaged. Then you unload the pallets and start looking for damaged items. If the target pallet has something nice and fragile like large filters in it, then the damage cost gets pretty high. That gets fork lift drivers fired.

 

[BlackBat242]

More likely that the blade is programmed to activate a gravity generator on the downswing for a split second.

Sounds like a capacitive discharge power source, much like how the initial Jump transition is powered in CT.

 

[willtron3030]

You might be able to gently lift things like big containers, but moving them is going to be a different story. Moving them means getting all of that inertial mass accelerated and decelerated. Figuring 5 tons mass per Traveller dTon, you are looking at between 20 and 40 TONS moving and then STOPPING. Have you ever seen a forklift with a heavy pallet going too fast and then hitting the brakes? The pallet does not stop, but sails off of the forks and slams into the row of pallets that the pallet was to be added too. With luck, only the traveling pallet and the one that it hits are damaged. Then you unload the pallets and start looking for damaged items. If the target pallet has something nice and fragile like large filters in it, then the damage cost gets pretty high. That gets fork lift drivers fired.

Agreed. I've seen similar breakage much along that line: palletized loaded server racks for installation in a new DR data center site. The resulting damage made the backplanes of the storage arrays something more like parallelograms. Inertia is a gold-plated b****.

The goal isn't to rapidly move containers instead of heavy cargo handling equipment, but to gently and slowly make fine adjustments to position for loading/unloading. 20thC stevedores had hooks and such, to help the crane operators in much the same way. Dirtside, gravtech eliminates friction, until the container is lowered. Both dirtside and in 0G, the gravtech can impart a little deltaV without the need for muscle power, and from odd angles if need be. the devices are deployed by the yard dogs because it's cheaper than building gravtech into every cargo container.

But now you have me thinking that sometimes cargo damage could be intended... how better to feed a decent downport black market, than with occasional "damaged" goods that got written off along with actually damaged goods? Fell off a truck, indeed.

 

[Ulsyus]

If you use Thingmaker in T5, which is focused on effect and outcomes, then a lot of ideas are possible. Limitations exist that could vary significantly from MTU to YTU to TTU (their TU)

I've used the CG design table in TNE FF&S (p75) as a guide before to get an idea of what could be done, coupled with power generation systems on pp 63-68.

Considering that, here's the most efficient (TL12):

MW KL Mass MCr MinVol
0.1 0.3 0.2 0.03 0.03

where...
MW: Power requirement per displacement ton (14 kl) of
hull.
KI:Volume, in kiloliters (cubic meters), per displacement ton
(1 4 kl) of hull.
Mass: Mass, in tonnes, per displacement ton (1 4 kl) of hull.
j MCr: Price, in millions of credits, per displacement ton (1 4
kl) of hull.
I Min Vol: Smallest installation volume allowed.

Given the lifting criteria is based on dTons rather than kg/tons, that may need some maths to work out how bit the unit needs to be to lift up that baroness' dress so she can dance elegantly, but it could be done.

Another consideration is simple practicality and cost: is it worth engineering a CG item when it is still as practical and ubiquitous using lesser technology?