Ships Should Be Indestructable

[All Seeing Eye]

The Federation has technology such as the Replicator and Transporter correct?

Well whenever the hull on a ship is breached the ship could literally just scan the damage and replicate a piece of hull required to fix the damage and the new piece could be transported into position.

An EPS conduit blows out? just have the ship automatically replicate a new one and beam it into position.

The warp nacelle is damaged? replicate the new parts and beam them into position.

All this could even be done during battle. The ship would be indestructible.

 

[DonIago]

...until the enemy damaged the ship's ability to effect the repairs you cited. Or inflicted damage faster than the ship could repair itself.

 

[SonOfMogh]

The Federation has technology such as the Replicator and Transporter correct?

Well whenever the hull on a ship is breached the ship could literally just scan the damage and replicate a piece of hull required to fix the damage and the new piece could be transported into position.

An EPS conduit blows out? just have the ship automatically replicate a new one and beam it into position.

The warp nacelle is damaged? replicate the new parts and beam them into position.

All this could even be done during battle. The ship would be indestructible.

If this were the case there would barely be a need for shipyards at all, just create a warp core connected to a giant replicator and let the ship replicate itself around them.

It's clear that ships are constructed and repaired by much more traditional methods (look at the guys in space suits during the DS9 intro), the replicators aren't sophisticated or powerful enough for this application and the transporters can't integrate hull plating to that extent.

......Until the last episode of Voyager

 

[sojourner]

Ssshhhhh! That didn't happen.

 

[Myasishchev]

Can a replicator replicate a replicator? I almost think it can't, since replicators are shown to be somewhat poor at detail (this is the only way I can think that food would taste differently, not getting the microscopic stuff right--messing up on the cell membranes and changing the texture). A highly complex machine like a replicator, with surely many micro(nano?)scopic parts would be difficult. Same would apply to a starship.

Now, a replicator or hologram repair routine could probably fake it for a while, but you'd lose a lot of function and the energy costs would be immense.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

Can a replicator replicate a replicator? I almost think it can't, since replicators are shown to be somewhat poor at detail (this is the only way I can think that food would taste differently, not getting the microscopic stuff right--messing up on the cell membranes and changing the texture). A highly complex machine like a replicator, with surely many micro(nano?)scopic parts would be difficult. Same would apply to a starship.

I'm talking about replicating basic replicatable components and chunks of hull to fix hull breaches. Nothing super fancy but more than capable of being replicated.
We've heard references in Trek to industrial sized replicators, these replicators are no doubt capable of replicating a multitude of components and are used in construction.
On a starship if they converted a cargo bay into one huge replicator unit it would be straight forward to replicate replacement parts and hull.

 

[DonIago]

I suspect the power demands for what you're asking would be such that, sure, a starship could theoretically do this...provided they didn't want to run weapons or shields in the meantime.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Can a replicator replicate a replicator? I almost think it can't, since replicators are shown to be somewhat poor at detail (this is the only way I can think that food would taste differently, not getting the microscopic stuff right--messing up on the cell membranes and changing the texture). A highly complex machine like a replicator, with surely many micro(nano?)scopic parts would be difficult. Same would apply to a starship.

I'm talking about replicating basic replicatable components and chunks of hull to fix hull breaches. Nothing super fancy but more than capable of being replicated.

Replicators do not manufacture materials ex-nihilio. In a nutshell, they are devices that turn something (a mass of shapeless material, for example) into something else (a tool or device or a meal chemically similar to said shapeless material). You can't just plug a battery into a replicator and have it spit out another battery, you have to have the materials on hand for the replicator to work with.

In this sense, it's clear that starships DO probably make use of replicators for starship repairs. This is an obvious conclusion from the ability of 24th century starships to repair hull breaches and serious structural damage without having to return to a starbase. If you have enough bulk material lying around, you can rebuild any part of the ship you want... but this takes time, skill, and a crack engineering team.

On the other hand, a more automated approach may be feasible. I once toyed with the idea of a starship whose outer hull is lined with replicator waveguides that can beam replacement hull plates to the outside of the ship in the event of a breach. Starfleet probably has R&D programs researching this.

 

[judge alba]

The Federation has technology such as the Replicator and Transporter correct?

Well whenever the hull on a ship is breached the ship could literally just scan the damage and replicate a piece of hull required to fix the damage and the new piece could be transported into position.

An EPS conduit blows out? just have the ship automatically replicate a new one and beam it into position.

The warp nacelle is damaged? replicate the new parts and beam them into position.

All this could even be done during battle. The ship would be indestructible.

it's a good idea but it would take time to replicate a ship part i guess too much time in battle to do. though i would think they would do it when safly out of the way well they must have in voyager it's why it was always clean and new looking

 

[All Seeing Eye]

On the other hand, a more automated approach may be feasible. I once toyed with the idea of a starship whose outer hull is lined with replicator waveguides that can beam replacement hull plates to the outside of the ship in the event of a breach. Starfleet probably has R&D programs researching this.

Funnily enough I thought that up myself last night. Have the hull of the ship designed as interconnecting blocks and when the hull is hit and those blocks are blown off then replacement blocks are replicated rather than replicating a chunk of hull.

 

[Bonzo the Fifth]

Well, DS9 did have the self-replicating minefield that worked on just that principle (replication as self/repair)... so I could see that being feasible... though energy intensive.

As well, I've always suspected Borg ship regeneration routines used a fair amount of replication to achieve the goal

 

[seekertwo]

On the other hand, a more automated approach may be feasible. I once toyed with the idea of a starship whose outer hull is lined with replicator waveguides that can beam replacement hull plates to the outside of the ship in the event of a breach. Starfleet probably has R&D programs researching this.

Funnily enough I thought that up myself last night. Have the hull of the ship designed as interconnecting blocks and when the hull is hit and those blocks are blown off then replacement blocks are replicated rather than replicating a chunk of hull.

....and the name of this ship wouldn't be the USS LEGO, would it?...

 

[All Seeing Eye]

On the other hand, a more automated approach may be feasible. I once toyed with the idea of a starship whose outer hull is lined with replicator waveguides that can beam replacement hull plates to the outside of the ship in the event of a breach. Starfleet probably has R&D programs researching this.

Funnily enough I thought that up myself last night. Have the hull of the ship designed as interconnecting blocks and when the hull is hit and those blocks are blown off then replacement blocks are replicated rather than replicating a chunk of hull.

....and the name of this ship wouldn't be the USS LEGO, would it?...

Could be, could be.

 

[Praetor]

Can a replicator replicate a replicator?

That statement blew my mind.

Clearly, if you want self-repair, nanoprobes are the way to go.

 

[Bonzo the Fifth]

That statement blew my mind.

Clearly, if you want self-repair, nanoprobes are the way to go.

How about this....

Self... replicating... nanoprobes...

 

[Praetor]

That... could work.

I wonder if Borg nanoprobes are self-replicating? Or "self-reproducing" anyway.

 

[Deks]

They should be ...
A drone can inject a specific amount of nanoprobes into the victim's body while having more than enough in it's own for example.
7 had millions of nanoprobes swarming in her system for example.
I doubt that a drone upon assimilation injects over a few hundred, or perhaps a few thousand.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

Are you seriously telling me you guys don't know Borg Nanoprobes are self replicating? How long you guys been watching Trek?

 

[David cgc]

Maybe you could cite the specific episode and line that established that, then, if its so obvious and memorable.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

Maybe you could cite the specific episode and line that established that, then, if its so obvious and memorable.

I'm not going out of my way to work out which eps make that clear, i'd have to go watch every Borg episode to locate the ones that make it clear.
Surely it's common knowledge that Borg nano-probes replicate themselves. Seriously if people don't know this then "MY GOD!"