Ships auto pilot - how much can they do?

[Crewman47]

On several occasions in DS9 whenever we see the crew using Runabouts, instead of landing them, as there more than capable of doing, everyone on the ship will beam down to or over to there destination, leaving the Runabout empty and on automatic. I sometimes wonder what processes the computer will actually go through when in this state and also with monitoring it's crew, any Space and communication traffic. Also what's to prevent it from being stolen or boarded? I even think there was one episode where we see an empty Runabout flying at either full impulse or warp on which it had been programmed to head back to it's home port, in the episode where O'Brien and Sisko get stuck on that planet where an Earth ship crashed on it around 30 years ago.Just wondering as to how much the ships computer can actually do on it's own and how far it can go before any humanoid (don't want to use human as Starfleet is not just Human only) interaction is required and could a ships computer for larger ships, like Galaxy's and Sovereigns do the same thing, automatically run the ship without much interaction for short periods of time?

 

[Timo]

One might argue that ST3 was proof positive already that starships can run on full auto. After all, that ship had no crew - she merely had a bunch of people at the bridge, telling the ship where to go and what to do. It doesn't sound likely that the input of Sulu or Kirk during the voyage from Earth to Genesis actually amounted to anything much, or that a machine couldn't have done their jobs better.

OTOH, going from A to B on full auto is one thing, doing something useful at B is quite another. The ship could probably easily target the local cities and fire the weapons on full auto, or scan the surface for scientific wonders and perform fascinating experiments on them - but would Starfleet feel confident enough to let her do that? Humans are invaluable aboard as decisionmakers.

Humans are also needed when something goes wrong. Starships probably can self-repair to some degree, or at least we seldom see much in the way of physical repairs performed on them by their human crews, and still a ship damaged at the beginning of an episode is functional again by the end of the episode. But damage control and maintenance is probably another big reason for having people aboard.

Apart from that, we're there as passengers...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[C.E. Evans]

On board large starships, I think helm control is automated most of the time, with the helm officer (as previously mentioned) there to monitor the flight systems and to intervene in the case of an emergency--such as a need to go to maximum warp by the captain as just one example. I would imagine the Tom Paris' often bragged skills as a pilot only came into being when the Voyager was in danger and needed manual control. Another instance was when Picard relieved Wesley of the helm to manually steer the Enterprise-D out of an booby trapped asteroid field.
Otherwise, I agree that starships can pretty much fly themselves.

 

[Tigger]

Many modern airliners can do everything from take-off to landing on auto-pilot. The only time the flight crew need put their hands on the controls is to taxi to and from the gate.

I expect a starship is capable of at least traveling from an origin to a destination under computer control.

 

[Vanyel]

As I understand it, a Runabout, when left in orbit, has it manual controls locked out and password protected (DS9's The Jem'Hadar) so it being being boarded and commandeered would be difficult, but not impossible. An easier way to take it would be to fire on it and disable its engines so it could be towed away.

I would guess that in the episode Paradise, either Sisko or O'Brien forgot to lockout the Runabout's computer allowing the crazy nature tree huger lady to reprogram the Runabout to fly at a star; Sisko, being the senior officer, I imagine would take the blame.

I believe LaForge said that the systems of the 1701D were 90% automatic (Contagion), needing no external help to run. Also in Remember Me, Crusher just told the 1701D's computer to lay in a course to the Traveler's home world of Tau Alpha C and engage at maximum warp. It was implied that the ship could make the long journey on its own.

So the ship can navigate great distances on its own and even avoid obstacles in its direct path. I doubt Starfleet would send a starship out on its own though. I can see them sending advanced probes to map out an area of space and take note of any interesting or unknown phenomena; then a maned starship could be sent to fully explore the area and run experiments on any phenomena they may encounter. You would need a living being there capable of making logical jumps leaps to figure out somethings that the data alone may not be telling.

 

[Timo]

I would guess that in the episode Paradise, either Sisko or O'Brien forgot to lockout the Runabout's computer allowing the crazy nature tree huger lady to reprogram the Runabout to fly at a star; Sisko, being the senior officer, I imagine would take the blame.

OTOH, this Alixus character was painted as technologically savvy. She managed to sabotage the ship and erect the tech-damping field; perhaps she knew her way around Starfleet hardware and software, too? Granted that this episode is our (first and only) proof that the Danube was a relatively new design, but perhaps Alixus had some sort of a generic trick, the way Quark had things in his sleeves or cashier.

Also in Remember Me, Crusher just told the 1701D's computer to lay in a course to the Traveler's home world of Tau Alpha C and engage at maximum warp. It was implied that the ship could make the long journey on its own.

We have to consider the possibility that some things in Crusher's dream weren't quite true to objective reality, even if she herself felt so. But yeah, I'd like to think the ship can do things like that when somebody with sufficient authority tells her to.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Praetor]

From a philosophical standpoint, I seem to vaguely recall something Roddenberry once said about the notion that the level of technology in Trek was such that unmanned vehicles probably could do a lot of what the Enterprise did, but human curiosity and need for exploration would push them out there with them.

My point is that while starships probably could operate on its own to some extent at some length (with particularly increased abilities as the technology itself evolved from the ENT era to the TOS era to the TNG era), I think Trek humanoids have designed their ships to still need them in some capacities so they don't feel like self-involved passengers, achieving a balance between the 'technology unchained' concept and feeling like their technology has surpassed them.

I don't see why the Enterprise-D's computer wouldn't handle 90% of the nuts and bolts ship operations automatically but still require manual observation, or why she couldn't (in a best case scenario) make it to Tau Ceti on her own. A lot of what the crew (particularly the engineers) on the TOS Enterprise did seemed to be observation of computer instruments rather than direct work. Also, you have automated cargo drones such as the Woden and those from TAS which seem to do fine on their own.

 

[Tigger]

There is also the crew programming the Enterprise D to vacate Starbase 74 under computer command in "11001001" when the Bynars fake a containment failure. This appears to be a "standard ability" of the GCS and not due to the Bynars playing with the computer. It is also possible the actual flight to Bynaus was under "normal" computer control and not due to the Bynar's programming.

 

[judge alba]

i would think ships on auto pilot could do more less anything on thier own.
in the tos episode ultimate computer they had the m-5 that could scan a planet, order a away team and fly the ship around the galaxy. not to mention blow up a ship or two all this was with out human help.
admitedly the comuter was a nutter but if starfleet could get a ship to do all that them i woud have thought the ships of the 24th century would be even more capable of dong so.

 

[SicOne]

As it has been explained to me by a fellow (locomotive) engineer who has been over there and seen it in action, the French TGV trains are manually driven out of the station, then set on a form of autopilot (a positive train control, with which they are tinkering on here in the States), then the crew reestablishes control and takes it into the station at its destination. I understand the Japanese bullet trains and the German ICE trains also work on the same principle.