posted
I did this drawing for another forum, but I thought I'd show it here, too. It's a crane used by the Starfleet Corps of Engineers for just about anything you'd need a crane for. Loading/unloading cargo, building new colonies and bases on unforgiving planets, etc. The grapple on the end of the boom is similar to the technology in the NX-01's grapple. And yes, it has wheels. (Heresy!) I figure that in these kinds of applications where you need to pick up and place things precisely, you don't want to rely on a power system to keep yourself in the air, not to mention having to deal with the wind or whatever else may affect you.
-------------------- "Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the basis of life and death, the Tao to survivial or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed."
"...attaining one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the pinnacle of excellence. Subjugating the enemy's army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence."
-Sun Tzu, The Art of War, 6th century B.C.E.
Registered: May 1999
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posted
Yeah, the width was the one nit someone else had, too. The width right now is entirely based on the circular carousel for the crane. I may update it sometime to see if it looks any better widened. However, the crane's operations do not rely on the width between the wheels because of the stabilizing outriggers.
posted
i'd think it's be a hovercar of some sort and that the "crane" would be alarge tractor-beam emitter. Mabye the vehicle attaches a few anti-graviton devices (as seen on TNG) and just controls the lifted material remotely. No wide body or giant wheels required.
Think of a largeish, flat-bottomed shuttle with a turretted beam emitter and a flatbed in the back for transporting raw mateials or a small industrial replicator for spot repairs.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
The competition I designed this for said "come up with a wheeled Starfleet vehicle", so that was an obvious design constraint. I certainly didn't want to do a dune buggy!
As for the grapple, there's no reason why there can't be different things mounted on the end of that boom for different reasons, including a small tractor beam emitter.
posted
AS's mostly deal with Aviation GSE (Ground Support Equipment)so mostly Construction Mechanics (CMs)
-------------------- "Who cares if we bomb a few hospitals, it just means we got them a second time" Warrant Officer Robert Clift, CVN-71 OEF
Registered: Aug 2002
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