AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
Like the rest of anti-grav tech, it doesn't change inertia, it sets up a variable gravity field in the opposite direction of the perceived accel due to ship accel, i.e. it provides thrust, not inertia manipulation.
The Bridge, Ship Size, and Hull Size
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mike wightman
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Of course it changes inertia, the clue is in the name and the description of what it does. And inertial mass = gravitic mass, if you can change one you can change the other.
Note that acceleration compensators are often referred to as inertial compensators.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Passive would be a neutralization of inertia.
Active would be equal countering.
On the whole, this technology is so vaguely described, it's more superstition than (pseudo)science.
I suspect, deliberately so.
Active would be equal countering.
On the whole, this technology is so vaguely described, it's more superstition than (pseudo)science.
I suspect, deliberately so.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Equal countering would mean you are pushed and pulled in different directions - could be messy 
There's a reason they stopped using the flat-rate formula for large ships and small craft.
That reason is that it's preposterous at the high end.
It's kind of silly at the low end too, but it's not quite as blatant.
Edit: Hey, wait.
That's how they ended up with a weaponized exhaust rule in HG'77 that didn't scale its damage along with attacker's maneuver drive (and ship) tonnage!
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Latency could be fatal.
And if there is a grid involved, you could be feeling different effects from different directions.
And if there is a grid involved, you could be feeling different effects from different directions.
Given the power needs for Inertial Compensators in MT, I'd guess they are active, linked to the computer to counter the effects of maneuvering inside the ships (so, if the ship applies 1G towards port, the Compensators aply 1 G towards starbord inside the ship, making the passengers feel no effect from maneuvering).
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
If it changed inertial, you would feel no gravity = accel and when you moved you would bounce off the walls by the resulting accel. It changes neither mass nor inertia, of course.
What you feel is artificial normal gravity = accel towards the floor, which presupposes normal inertia.
It's an inertial compensator, it compensates for the inertia (induced perceived accel), it doesn't remove it.
Yet that is what it must be. The computers controlling it better be on the ball.Equal countering would mean you are pushed and pulled in different directions - could be messy
Traveller tech is sometimes surprisingly primitive, and sometimes surprisingly advanced...
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Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Machine learning would tell the programme which forces would need to be countered for any specific manoeuvre, at any specific thrust.
So, crash test dummy would still be an employable profession.
So, crash test dummy would still be an employable profession.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
So what you have is the ability to produce artificial gravity and artificial inertia - inertia manipulation technology.
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
It doesn't change or affect inertia (= resistance to accel) in any way, it just accelerates you with the ship, in strict accordance with F=m×a. It manipulates F, not m.
Exactly in the same way as artificial gravity (=acceleration), but in another direction.
Not necessarily. We know that artificial gravity = pseudo-gravity, not actual gravity, because it produces an effect on mass that is not commensurate with gravitational charge (=mass); otherwise you would need a planetary-sized mass to produce the field. So pseudo-gravity may not be identical with inertia; it is a force-effect that acts upon mass that is not itself gravity.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
1. Local amplification?
2. Speaking of which, grav plates are tiled across the spacecraft, so I assume the effect is somewhat right angle directly over each tile.
2. Speaking of which, grav plates are tiled across the spacecraft, so I assume the effect is somewhat right angle directly over each tile.
I've thought of that before, but intuitively I think that would be opening up an even bigger can of worms.
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
Artificial gravity = inertial compensator, it's the same thing. Inertia never changes.
Gravity is acceleration:
https://www.einstein-online.info/en/spotlight/equivalence_principle/
Gravity is acceleration:
https://www.einstein-online.info/en/spotlight/equivalence_principle/
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I've always taken inertial compensation to be a high reaction-speed computer-controlled force-counterforce reaction keyed to engine output, not a pervasive "inertial dampening field". Otherwise you wouldn't get people jarred or thrown around by hits during combat either.
Which would also make internal damage difficult, as everything would be a perfectly elastic collision.
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
Yes, it's artificial gravity counteracting the perceived accel relative the ship, making you accel at the same rate as the ship, so you perceive no accel. Inertia is not changed or affected.
Make it slightly more advanced and that is removed too.
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
This has nothing to do with elastic collision, that is about the material of the colliding bodies?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_collision
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Someone should try this onboard a spacecraft with inertial compensators.
