Ensign Leran Perax - Moving toward a Prototype
David Shaw
Perax: This is what I’ve come up with so far. A simplified version of circuitry, initial slight modifications of the inventory scanner. Holster design, heat dissipation, and energy storage and consumption are the most immediate problems that I can think of, but if you see anything else that you know a way of improving, let me know.
Zh’raalil: This looks very impressing. And to use the modifications of the inventory scanner is a great idea.
Perax: Thanks, but that was Chandni’s idea to base it off the inventory scanner.
Kapoor: What do you think we need to look out for OPS wise?
Zh'raalil: I think another big challenge would be to keep the energy output stable. The tractor beam would need different energy output depending on the circumstances, as you know of course, so it would need to be adjusted constantly.
Kapoor: You are right. Not only are the things we lift different weights and need different weight distribution but it has to be steady, especially in case of volatile materials.
Perax: We can place a dial that can scale up and down the output and add a button to lock the setting for the times when you don’t want to accidentally bump the dial.
Zh'raalil: That would be a good option. Just imagine you bump the dial ans suddenly the cargo ends up flying up dwo decks ::she grinns at the though::
Kapoor: How fast can we make the engagement of the beam? Just in case it does lose its grip it would be good to have a fast re-engagement to catch it. If that is not possible however we just know to possibly not carry explosives with it until we know it to be stable.
Perax: Well, there are a couple options with that. Manually, re-engaging the beam would take about twenty to forty seconds depending on the person’s reflexes and aiming accuracy. It would be even longer if the user grabs the wrong object. We could set up an automatic target reacquisition, but we would need to add a basic sensor scan and object identification function. It’s more complicated than the simple label reader that is in most of the inventory scanners, but it would get re-engagement down to ten to fifteen seconds, maybe twenty seconds if the user reaction is slow.
Making a few adjustments on his sketch, he added a dial and a rough programming logic diagram in the opposite corner from his circuit diagram.
Zh'raalil: You already thought that through quite a bit.
Perax: Now, we have to deal with Physics. In keeping with the Second Law of Thermodynamics, we are going to lose some energy as heat. Given the amount of energy we are probably going to use, I think this portable tractor beam will produce considerable heat. We might be able to recapture some and try to make it perform work, but we need to also bleed heat away from the device without burning or making the user uncomfortable.
Kapoor: Is there a way to use that heat as energy to go back into the beam? You know rerouting it back into the circulation.
Zh’raalil: It is possible yes. But on the other hand it would add another quit complex part to the device and the calculation for the power generation would need to be precises if the energy comes from two different sources.
Perax: Feeding the excess heat into the tractor beam would get it away from the user, but would that have an adverse effect on the more perishable or volatile cargo that the beam is moving?
Kapoor: Would it?
Zh’raalil: ::she looks at Kapoor with a thoughtful expression:: That is a good question, I would say it depends on the cargo. Maybe we should test is with a simulation once we have all the date on what we want to do exactly.
He looked up from the table where his paper lay and turned and looked over at the Andorian standing next to him.
Perax: We could, um, uh, lower the temperature of the work area when they are in use too. With many of these being used simultaneously, that would keep the room from becoming a sauna.
Kapoor: Most of the time one person works alone or two max. The times that we have several people in there are not the norm, usually after taking on new cargo only between missions.
Zh’raalil: But still lowering the environmental temperature would help keep the device cool for longer. But with the downside of the person working there possibly feeling uncomfortable when the device isn't generating heat.
He had to concede the point.
Perax: response
Kapoor: Would building in a thermal regulation system make the tool too big?
Zh’raalil: I would say it depends on what is considered to big and what exactly the system should do you wan’t to implement.
Perax: The problem is that thermal regulation doesn’t mean what most people think it means, and such a system can look like many different things.
Kapoor: Now I only have basic knowledge in engineering but the warp core gets incredibly hot with the matter/antimatter reactions and we have a highly sophisticated thermal regulation system to keep it cool, so we can get even close. If something of that size can do it in a way that we can work near the warpcore without thinking we are on a tropical planet, it should be possible for a handheld device. Any other device must have something like that as well, this just uses more power so the thermal system needs to be more efficient? Am I completely off with that assumption?
Zh'raalil: No no, you have a point. There are thermal systems that could regulate that, but as you mentioned before size is a factor. The warpcore is big and the thermal regulation system just as much, and they aren't singular systems either. Perax what are your thoughts on that?
Perax: You mean the plasma intercooler and the plasma coolant system. It would be difficult to miniaturize that.
Kapoor: Response:
The Andorian grabs her PADD and opens up the page detailing the ships warpcore and thermal regulation system. She takes a moment to take a look at it before she puts it on the table for the others to see.
Zh'raalil: The thermal regulation system is integrated with the other ship systems in engineering, not just the warpcore. But if we could isolate just the most basic parts of it for our handheld device it could work. Maybe.
Perax: No, I think it would be a bad idea. Plasma coolant is far too dangerous to start putting in handheld devices; it eats away organic matter in seconds if it somehow manages to leak, but we might be able to replicate a substitute. I would recommend using a miniaturized Dielectric Fluid system or even deionized water over warp drive plasma coolant.
Kapoor: Response
Zh'raalil: I do admit that I'm better at fixing engineering problems than at inventing entirely new devices. Even if this project is about making a smaller version of something existing. But then you never get better if you don't try it, or something like that. ::she chuckles::
Thinking back to the all the times he fixed equipment on his parents freighter, he had started out in similar manner, better at fixing than creating that is. To be fair, creating a machine or device was more daunting because of the sheer number of possibilities and combinations, then there were the design limitations.
Perax: It’s much the same thing. When you take something apart and find out what makes it work, you set yourself up to learn why things work. After that, it’s just a matter of applying what you learned to other applications and working out the problems.
Kapoor: Response
He started looking up different power cells and displayed them on the console screen.
Perax: We need to decide on a power cell that is small in size, contains adequate power, and doesn’t add much to the heat problem.
Kapoor/Zh’raalil: response
Perax: That one is a bit on the larger size, but it does have good capacity and stays cool.
Kapoor/Zh’raalil: response
With the design beginning to take shape, Perax wondered if it was time to start work on a prototype.
Perax: Are there any other necessities that need to be added? I think there is enough to attempt a first prototype. ::He looked from Kapoor to Zh’raalil::
Kapoor/Zh’raalil: response