franchise-star-trek-tng-technical-manual1

13.6 TURBOLIFT PERSONNEL TRANSPORT SYSTEMand reused. In a shortage, raw food stock can be replicatedfrom general raw stock or waste material, but the energy costis correspondingly higher, so this practice is to be avoided.This system is relatively expensive to operate in terms ofmass of the hardware involved and the energy cost of operation,but it is a significant savings over a traditional foodstorage and preparation system. Older techniques requiredthe storage (either in refrigeration or stasis) of a large numberof raw foodstuff types. The total mass of stored foodstuffswould have to be nearly twenty times greater in order toprovide even a tenth of the menu items offered by thereplicator system. Because food is stored as a single uniformstaple, very little mass and storage penalty is incurred inproviding an extremely wide range of menu choices. Extensiverecycling of food stock permits an even more dramaticmass savings over extended voyages. Further, the laborinvolved even in automated food preparation (and the crewsupport costs thereby incurred) further increases the cost oftraditional food service.As with all transporter-based replication systems, thefood replicators operate at molecular resolution. Because ofthis, there are significant numbers of single-bit errors in theresulting replicated materials. These errors are not nutritionallysignificant (although some individuals do claim to be ableto taste differences in certain dishes), but certain types ofAltarian spices have shown a tendency to become mildly toxicwhen replicated, so their use is avoided in replicated dishes.13.6 TURBOLIFT PERSONNEL TRANSPORT SYSTEMIntraship personnel transport is provided by the turboelevatorsystem. This network of inductively powered transporttubes allows high-speed personnel movement throughout thehabitable volume of the ship.The turboshaft network consists of two parallel mainvertical arteries, which provide service to hubs in horizontalnetworks located on each deck. Redundant horizontal linkson Decks 8,10,25, and 31 connect the discontinuous verticalsegments. The network is designed to provide alternateaccess routes to all decks, permitting alternate routing duringtimes of heavy system usage. This design philosophy alsominimizes the effect of any given single malfunction on overallsystem performance. Additionally, there is a single dedicatedemergency turboshaft connecting the Main Bridge on Deck 1to the Battle Bridge on Deck 8.Each turbolift car consists of a lightweight duraniumcompositeframework supporting a cylindrical personnel cabfabricated from microfoamed duranium sheeting. Motiveforce is provided by three linear induction motors mountedlongitudinally within the cab's exterior frame. These inductionmotors derive power from electromagnetic conduits locatedalong the length of each turboshaft and are capable ofaccelerations approaching 10 m/sec 2 . For crew comfort, aninertial damping matrix at the base of the cab reduces (butdoes not eliminate) the acceleration effects of turbolift motion.An auditory pickup within the cab provides the ability forcrew personnel to vocally command the operation of theturbolift. Upon receipt of destination instructions from apassenger, the individual lift car queries the network controlcomputer and receives instructions on optimal route. Suchroute instructions take into account other turbolift cars currentlyactive in the network. The voice pickup also allowsautomatic voiceprint identification of passengers, permittinginobtrusive screening of unauthorized personnel to restrictedareas.An average of ten turbolift cars are in service at all timesAn example of the limitations of the replicator system is a linein "Sins of the Father" in which Picard claims to find replicatedcaviar inferiorto the real thing. (On the other hand, wewonderif the good captain could really tell the difference in a blindtaste test.) Another example of replicator limits is the singlebitDNA errors that led Data and Beverly to suspect Romulantrickery in the episode "Data's Day."13.6.1 Turbolift car