puke wrote:

i've been trying to get my head around why this is a good idea for large scale projects like Hamilton Cylinders or even morphs. sure you need nanites to do things like map neural pathways, and they probably have great utility for rapid prototyping and such, but why would the be used in large scale production? based on the descriptions on what they need to work, they require an external power source (probalby in the form of an EMF) and raw materials in the form of basic elements. so if you start with an asteroid (for example) they will need to break down all the chemical bonds in a really unreasonably large number of molecules, until they get to the base elements. then they will need to re-bond those elements into the chemicals or compounds that they need for their construction project. I would imagine that due to the energy cost of this, large scale manufacturing would prefer traditional methods -- like with foundries and robots and whatnot. I could imagine nanites being used for specialized parts of construction, like removing the seams from a superstructure or something like that, but the superstructure its self would probably be better off being forged or cast or extruded or whatever. ideas?

The biggest advantage for using nanites for large-scale production is the minimized cost. A single solar-powered nanohive can be placed at the location for construction, whereupon the nanomachines can work at their construction anytime they have the power to do it. This eliminates the need for construction crews, shipping specialized machinery and hardware (like foundries and robots), and largely reduces all construction needs down to "a few nanobot payloads and asteroids". Most importantly, Hamilton cylinders aren't just built using nanomachines... they are maintained and expanded by the same process. More nanohives are added to the ends of the cylinder, along with more resources for them to work with, and they begin to deconstruct the material and build upon the already-existing cylinder. The raw materials can be sent without the need for pre-processing (it could even come in the form of space debris or garbage) and be used for the construction process. The product is seamless, and no one needs to directly work to get the job done (programmers may still be required). For the most part, the process has only advantages The only real problem in the whole thing will be time. Even the section referencing the construction of Hamilton cylinders on page 67 notes that a small habitat built using nanomachines will likely take months. A Hamilton cylinder payload may take on the order of years to produce a thriving city-sized habitat. To that end, no Hamilton cylinder currently in existence has yet stopped the growth period of construction. The only respite in this is the fact that at no other hypercorporate resources beyond the nanomachine payloads are going to be tied up during this time period.