R&D Deck

Research and Development is something I enjoy.  It is also something that is critical for keeping ahead of the game and ensuring that your enemy does not overtake and destroy you.

For now I seemed to be surviving in my tiny patch of space despite having attacked several pirate strongholds.

Some of the data files I had obtained from destroyed ships and stations indicated several types of technologies that I had not yet figured out how to use (or even build) and some of the treasures looted from the same ships and stations contained devices that I did not understand.

R&D therefore became a priority for me.

To research new items I would need a sandbox to experiment with.  I resolved to build a small, well-lit deck above my factory complex where it would be shielded by Dry Station's shields, be wired directly into the power grid, and have easy access to my digital signature storage facility and factory.

The structure for the base of the R&D Deck perches on top the existing facilities.

Once the basic structure was in place, the deck was put down along with two elevated wing platforms designed for master control systems and experiment observation.

Lighting was providing by some very powerful halogen post lamps attached to the rim of the deck.

Deck is lit from below and above, giving good all round illumination of future experiments.

The operational deck measures 15x25 meters, with an additional 1m rim... plenty of space for basic experiments.

Once the R&D Deck was operational, I began immediately by experimenting with logic circuits (basic triggers and switches and timers to begin with), along with... explosives!  Oh yes.  I love R&D.

Logic circuits can be anything from simple ticking signals through to entire actual CPU's.

Logic was complicated and would require a great deal of research, trial and error.
After successfully developing a simple ticking circuit, I moved on to the explosive warhead trials.

I determined to measure the exact effectiveness of warhead explosions, by seeing how much range and damage was produced by exploding various payloads on a measured rod constructed of basic hull material.

Explosive Warheads obtained from pirate loot was one of my more entertaining experiments.

A tiny charge of 2 warheads had a blast radius of 7 meters, with enough force to obliterate hull in that radius.

A larger charge of 27 warheads (13.5 times the cost)...

..increases blast radius by 1 meter (and damage done in that radius by a noticeable amount).

My experiments confirmed what I had suspected for a long time - that many smaller warheads were more effective than one large single detonation.  I determined to use this information to my advantage - I would produce a vessel that could deliver many small ballistic missiles at a target.  This would also have the advantage of providing the missiles safety in numbers, so that even if a few incoming missiles were swatted, much of the payload would make it to the target to deal damage.

Samsonite Mk I Cruise Missile

I incorporated this new technology into my already well understood science of propulsion mechanics and automated ship control systems to develop the Samsonite Mk I Cruise Missile.  With a payload of 2tonne warhead and rapid ignition ion propulsion, the missile was capable of reaching a target at the range of rapid acceleration and sustained maximum speed for up to 8km... a longer range than it's target-acquisition sensors.

The Samsonite was an interesting creation, but one which would require a proper launching mechanism which could be fitted to the station or to vessels.

Another design that could utilise this technology without a launching mechanism would be mines.  I could mine my local space and defend against would be attackers in that way.

To build and deploy mines in that kind of quantity would require vast amounts of resources and build time.  I would need help.