TL 12 Ship's Engineer's Tool Set

[SpaceBadger]

I would like to expand some on what should be included in the TL 12 version of the various Mechanical/Electronic/Metalworking tool sets, plus TL 12 Ship's Engineer equipment. I'm going to divide this into four threads, starting off w some of my own ideas, and hoping to get more suggestions from y'all. This thread is for:

TL 12 Ship's Engineer's Tool Set

There aren't any tool sets listed for ship's engineers in any Traveller rules that I have, but a few items have been mentioned here and there, and I've come up with a few more myself. Your ideas are welcome!

First, the Ship's Engineer is going to need a Hand Computer, probably better quality than what most folks carry at any given tech level. (1) It will connect to the Engineer's work station and allow access to all of those functions remotely, because he/she is not going to want to have to crawl out from some tight space between massive drive sections just to check a reading or make an adjustment at the work station, then wiggle back into that crawlspace, etc. It should be able to project information holographically or onto the Work Goggles HUD (see below), in case the needed information isn't legible on a tiny tablet screen. (2) It will be able to connect to each of the major pieces of equipment (drives, powerplant, gravitics, etc) to pull diagnostic info. (3) If it doesn't actually include a radiation detector and other sensors itself, it can pull the data from those to make it readily available and keep records. (4) It will include an e-reader loaded with manuals and tech documents, again so the Engineer has access whether he is upside down underneath the Jump Drive or crawling around the outside of the ship in a vacc suit.

Engineer's Work Goggles - TL12 - .5 kg - Cr5000. This may seem like a very high price for a pair of goggles, but in addition to protecting the eyes from splinters and chips, these also have automatic flare shielding and provide most of the functionality of PRIS electrobinoculars. However, where the standard PRIS provides magnification for viewing at a distance, these goggles are optimized to magnify small things within one meter distance. The goggles can also provide a Heads Up Display for the Hand Computer or other instruments. Changing functions while working is usually by voice command, to allow hands-free use.

Manufacturer-provided Tools and Instruments. Where drives or powerplants require specialized tools for service and repair, these are usually provided by the manufacturer as part of the cost of installation. Older ships may accumulate some of these in the engineering locker over the years; unfortunately, they may also be lacking some that have been lost.

Remote Sensor - TL 12 - .1 kg - Cr200. These 1cm diameter spheres have spiderlike legs to let them crawl into tiny crevices and spaces hard to reach, and carry a variety of sensors to relay information to the work station, Hand Computer, or Work Goggles. These are not autonomous robots, but must be controlled from the Hand Computer or work station. These also carry LED lights, and extensible fiber optics to see or shine light into spaces that are too small for even the Remote Sensor to reach. (At higher TLs these Remote Sensors would probably be floaters, but I don't think TL 12 has gravitics that small.)

 

[Vladika]

Geiger counter
Laser level
Assorted shims & Caulking hammer
Calipers & Dividers
Graph paper notebook & Mechanical pencils
Duct Tape
Canned Air
WD 40

 

[SpaceBadger]

I forgot that I intended to add a footnote about the PRIS electrobinoculars that I mention in the Work Goggles paragraph.

This tool is introduced to Classic Traveller in the Grand Census book, as an item commonly used by Scouts but obviously useful to many others as well. PRIS is an acronym for Portable Radiation Imaging System. It is a passive sensor for radiation from infrared through gamma, plus does electronic magnification for distance viewing, and has a laser rangefinder, gyrostabilization, and other features useful to Scouts.

The listing also states that the PRIS is very useful in starship engine rooms for locating hot spots on drives or in wiring, and that a pair is found in almost every engine room. I thought that it would actually be more useful if incorporated into the Work Goggles, so I did.

PRIS Electrobinoculars - TL 12 - 2 kg - Cr3500

 

[SpaceBadger]

I completely forgot about hearing protection. Some Traveller materials state that the drive rooms can be very loud. This could also cause problems w using voice control for Hand Computer and Work Goggles. Maybe while in the engine room the engineers wear a sound-cancelling helmet, w short range comm so they can talk to each other? Could wear the work goggles inside the helmet... or should the work goggle functions just be transferred to the helmet visor?

 

[Spinward Scout]

Some Traveller materials state that the drive rooms can be very loud.

That can be deadened or silenced at our current TL with the addition of microphones and speakers replaying in a phase shift.

 

[McPerth]

That can be deadened or silenced at our current TL with the addition of microphones and speakers replaying in a phase shift.

IIRC in MT:SOM it was told about the drive rooms being quite noisy. It said that drive engineers use to be recognized by the ear protection they usually wear (even wen out of the drive room).

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Maybe while in the engine room the engineers wear a sound-cancelling helmet, w short range comm so they can talk to each other? Could wear the work goggles inside the helmet... or should the work goggle functions just be transferred to the helmet visor?

The only thing I don't like about a helmet is its size. It would be hard to get your head into some spaces. With something that is larger than your head, you also tend to bang the back of it into things - it's really annoying. I would keep it to a very slim headset, with integral goggles. These should fit inside a vacc suit helmet (especially any emergency vacc suit idea - like a skin suit - that you use).

One question on the goggles would be whether you make them fit to the face or not. In other words, do the safety concerns include just objects, or do they include liquid or gas, as well? Can you use shooter's glasses or something more like the safety goggles you probably used in chemistry class? Of course, if you keep it lightweight and slim, you could fit a full face shield or a hazmat helmet over it whenever you needed to.

Either way, the goggles should flip up when you want them out of the way, while your hearing protection stays put. (They can do the baseball outfielder flip-down thingy, or pivot up on top of your head.) You should also be able to pull your hearing protection out or move it out of the way without disturbing the goggles.

BTW, here's the TL8 version combi-goggles-ear protection.

 

[SpaceBadger]

The only thing I don't like about a helmet is its size. It would be hard to get your head into some spaces. With something that is larger than your head, you also tend to bang the back of it into things - it's really annoying. I would keep it to a very slim headset, with integral goggles. These should fit inside a vacc suit helmet (especially any emergency vacc suit idea - like a skin suit - that you use).

Good point. Also, wearing a helmet whenever you are on duty could be uncomfortable. Maybe better to just have a headset. For sound-cancelling, would it be necessary to have bulky earmuff-type headphones fully covering the ears (the kind you wear inside an MRI tube) or could they be made smaller, like earbuds or something in between?

One question on the goggles would be whether you make them fit to the face or not. In other words, do the safety concerns include just objects, or do they include liquid or gas, as well? Can you use shooter's glasses or something more like the safety goggles you probably used in chemistry class? Of course, if you keep it lightweight and slim, you could fit a full face shield or a hazmat helmet over it whenever you needed to.

I think just basic goggle area of protection. If you need full-face protection, you wear something else, either a vacc helmet or something special like the hazmat protection you mentioned.

Probably more like goggles than safety glasses, as you don't want them to fall off when you are upside down, and would also give better protection of the eyes at least if something unexpectedly sprayed in your face.

I want the goggles to be wearable inside a vacc helmet for use in EVA or when the engine room is in vacuum.

Either way, the goggles should flip up when you want them out of the way, while your hearing protection stays put. (They can do the baseball outfielder flip-down thingy, or pivot up on top of your head.) You should also be able to pull your hearing protection out or move it out of the way without disturbing the goggles.

Yeah, there should be some way so that you have them handy but aren't seeing through them fulltime, just when you need eye protection or want the sensor or HUD capabilities.

BTW, here's the TL8 version combi-goggles-ear protection.

That looks... uncomfortable. Would earplugs like that be capable of high-tech noise reduction, or are they just blobs of rubber?

 

[SpaceBadger]

[Drive room noise]

That can be deadened or silenced at our current TL with the addition of microphones and speakers replaying in a phase shift.

What do you mean by "current TL"? Modern day Real Life TL 8-ish? Or Traveller Imperial TL 11-15?

If TL 8-ish, I obviously need to do some research on this.

Edit: Wow that's cool! Active Noise Control. Expensive and limited in 3-D area function at TL-8, but the principles are there, so it ought to be fully refined by TL 11-15 - unless people just want noisy engine rooms.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

would it be necessary to have bulky earmuff-type headphones fully covering the ears (the kind you wear inside an MRI tube) or could they be made smaller, like earbuds or something in between?

We already have some active cancellation earbuds, though they aren't quite as effective as over-the-ear styles. Combine that with bone conduction earphones, and you've got a pretty cool setup.

Probably more like goggles than safety glasses, as you don't want them to fall off when you are upside down, and would also give better protection of the eyes at least if something unexpectedly sprayed in your face.

Maybe something more like old-style welder's glasses with a soft leather-like side (and bottom and top)? With more rigid temples, though. That way it would be easy to push them up on your head. They would pivot (and shift a bit) around the earpiece.

That looks... uncomfortable. Would earplugs like that be capable of high-tech noise reduction, or are they just blobs of rubber?

They're just earplugs, attached to the temples of the glasses. I found another one where you can pivot the earplugs out of the way, but I couldn't get a good picture to link. They can be uncomfortable if your ear-eye-headwidth arrangement isn't the same as "normal". If you fall in that range, though, they aren't too bad.

Edit: Wow that's cool! Active Noise Control. Expensive and limited in 3-D area function at TL-8, but the principles are there, so it ought to be fully refined by TL 11-15 - unless people just want noisy engine rooms.

The only problem you will have with doing that in a room is that not everyone will be at the same spot. The concept relies on the phases cancelling each other out - if they don't match it doesn't work. It's why most of your active noise cancellation technologies have focused on personal versions - your ears aren't going to move in relation to the headset. And, of course, personal noise cancellation involves putting something between your ear and everyone speaking to you, which has its own set of issues (including safety).

 

[SpaceBadger]

Here is another item that should be in one of these TL 12 tool sets. Could be considered Mechanical or Carpentry, but I am leaning toward the Ship's Engineer's Tools bc it would certainly be needed on shipboard.

Wall Scanner - TL 10 - .2 kg - Cr250
Scans through light metal wall panels (but not heavy bulkheads), ceiling/floor panels, plastic/sheetrock/wooden walls, to reveal equipment installed within the wall/floor/ceiling, including especially cables, pipes, conduits, and studs/supports.

This would work something like a high-tech stud-finder, except that instead of just flashing lights and making you guess what is where, it actually shows you. I'm not sure what the scanning tech should be; sound pulses, or MRI, or what. Maybe just leave it unspecified as future tech. Any ideas?

 

[Whipsnade]

Any ideas?

I think a lot of these devices could be attachments and applications for a single device rather than being discrete devices on their own; i.e. There's an app for that... Look at this for example. It's an app that turn an android phone into a serviceable radioactivity counter using the phone's built-in camera. That's at roughly TL8, so what's going to be available at TL12 or 15?

One of my current clients engages in some fairly heavy electronic repair down the component level. In some of their older repair labs the work benches hold several separate devices which are o-scopes, frequency analyzers, multimeters/flukes, capacitance testers, and so on while some of the work benches in their newer repair labs hold one device which is a scope, freq analyzer, fluke, and cap tester along with other devices. The many devices they use yearly grow more capable, grow more easier to use, and - very importantly - grow together.

I can very easily see a drive lackey aboard a nondescript Beowulf using a single, "ruggedized" tablet for 99% of his daily work and repairs. He'd call up the necessary app, add whatever attachments might be called for, and shift easily between testing gravitic compensator field strength to chasing shorts in airlock pump motors to checking the humidity levels maintained by life support system.

No field strength test widget, no short circuit detection widget, and no humidity measurement widget. Just a tablet with a field strength app, short circuit app, and humidity app instead.

 

[SpaceBadger]

I can very easily see a drive lackey aboard a nondescript Beowulf using a single, "ruggedized" tablet for 99% of his daily work and repairs. He'd call up the necessary app, add whatever attachments might be called for, and shift easily between testing gravitic compensator field strength to chasing shorts in airlock pump motors to checking the humidity levels maintained by life support system.

I agree, and that is how I see the Engineer's Hand Computer working in this tool set.

I asked the GM in my current game about this, and he allowed me to pay book prices for all of the component stuff I wanted, then combine them as I saw fit for in-game usage, on the basis that the TL now is a lot higher than when these were introduced and there have been improvements. Trying to think through the various improvements was the genesis of this series of threads.

 

[SanDragon]

Two things come to mind...

a handheld low-penetration densitometer;

a handheld penetrating radar.