12.2 Gravity Generation

Before the days of artificial gravity generation, ships were spun to provide centripetal pseudogravity. Fortunately, technology evolved. The general platform of the Camelot is equipped with a system of gravity field generators, as well as gravitic conduction plates to spread the field around a bit. The network is divided into four regions; one within the saucer module, two within the Lower engineering module and one within the Upper engineering module. All four work together to maintain the proper sense of 'down' (needless to say, the computer routines controlling gravity generation are well protected… imagine the havoc if someone got into them and reversed the field polarity), and are also actively tied into both the SIF and IDF systems to minimize motion shock during flight and impact from whatever. The saucer section sports 120 generators; the engineering hull in joined mode a total of 350. The fields are joined by a series of gravitic field conductors, molybdenum-jacketed waveguides similar to the IDF system that stitch together the disparate gravity fields into one coherent field for the whole ship.

A controlled stream of gravitons, much like those created by the tractor beam and gravitic impulse engines creates the gravity field itself. Hell, the basic physics behind all three are the same, though generation is slightly different. Power from the EPS is channeled into two hollow chambers of anicium titanide 454, sealed torii measuring 60 cm in diameter by 34cm high. Suspended in the center of the cylinder, in pressurized chrylon gas, is a superconducting stator of thoronium arkenide. The stator, once set to a rotational rate above 122,000 rpm, generates a graviton field with a short lifetime. This decay time necessitates the addition of the second layer of generators beyond 50 meters walking distance. The field is gentle enough, approximately 1 g, to allow natural walking without a gravity gradient. Gravity conduction plates are used to channel and bend the gravity field so that walking up a steep ramp or passing between decks doesn't cause a gut-wrenching sensation.

The superconducting stator remains suspended from the time of manufacture, and requires on a occasional synchronization pulse from the EPS, normally once each sixty minutes or so. In the event of EPS failure, a nanofusion generator will maintain the required plasma bursts for another three days. In the event that the generator goes down, the stator will continue to provide an attraction field for up to 4 hours, though some degradation to around .8g will be noticed. Any perceived ship motions that might disturb the stator gyroscopically are dampened by sinusoidal ribs on the inner surface of the cylinder, effectively acting as shock absorbers to anything with a amplitude of less than or equal to 7cm\sec. All other motions are handled by the IDF.