Omnicraft
Omnicraft
transforming from
undersea mode to flight mode
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OmnicraftOmnicraft
transforming from
undersea mode to flight mode
|
Small, mobile habitat/transport craft
designed to operate
and provide accommodations in a wide range of environments from
planetary
surfaces to interplanetary space.
Omnicraft are constructed of a combination of nanotechnic
materials and smart matter that permits them to rapidly reconfigure
themselves
in a variety of ways. This
includes the
expansion of sections of the craft to provide (often expansive) living
accommodations at a given destination, contraction and folding of
sections to
allow the craft to more easily travel when desired, and the
reconfiguration of
the crafts structure and motive systems to most effectively operate in
a given
environment.
Within a planetary or habitat
environment, an omnicraft may
deploy all-terrain wheels, multiple flexible legs, or a layer of
high-strength
utility
fog 'omnitread' to travel across various
surfaces and terrains. It
may inflate buoyant support structures and
extrude propellers, fins, or sails to provide transportation along, or
even
beneath, a liquid surface. Beneath the
surface of a sea or ocean it may use supercavitation technology to
reduce drag and allow increased speed. Or it may
deploy hot air or vacuum based lifting bodies, expandable propellers,
fancloth,
or small
jets to travel through the atmosphere above the planetary or habitat
surface.
Most omnicraft use a combination of fuel cells, solar energy, and nanoflywheel power storage for day-to-day operations, and limit themselves to ‘shirtsleeve’ planetary or habitat environments. However, more advanced systems (often based on templates first developed by hobbyists or tinkerers and then later filtered onto the commercial markets and public Known Net nodes) may include configurations and materials able to operate in a wide variety of challenging conditions including vacuum, within a jovian or To'ul'h type atmosphere, or even within the high-pressure depths of a Europan-class marine environment. Such advanced systems often include a low-power fusion or fission reactor system to permit operations away from solar power sources and may even deploy fusion powered thruster systems capable of interplanetary travel. On rare occasions hobbyists or more determined amateur explorers have fitted out their craft with nanostasis and high end recycling systems and ventured into local Oort and Kuiper clouds, sometimes taking months or years between stops on quixotic quests of exploration or deep-space solitude.
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