Metodología aplicada para el desarrollo de la solución

Collapsible buildings are semi-permanent structures consisting of a rigid rectangular shell that folds down to only a ¼ of its full size for shipping purposes. When erect, these buildings are as strong as the modular buildings below.

Collapsible buildings are available from a range of manufacturers in many variations; the most common sizes are 10-ton, 20-ton, 50-ton, and 100-ton.

10-ton buildings are 2.5 tons for shipping and when erect are 2.5 x 7.5 x 7.5 metres. They cost Lv15,600 for the building alone, and all features have to be added.

20-ton buildings are 5 tons for shipping, and when erect are 2.5 x 7.5 x 15 metres, and cost Lv31,600.

40-ton buildings are 10 tons for shipping, and when erect are 5 x 7.5 x 15 metres (two stories tall). Cost is Lv63,200

100-ton buildings are fairly rare, and are used for functions like meeting halls, warehouses, and gymnasiums. They are 25 tons for shipping purposes. These buildings are 6 metres tall, though typically only one floor, and measure 11 x 30 metres. Cost is Lv105,000.

mo d u l A r bu i l d i n G s

Ready-made modular structures are the core of most new colonies, dropped from orbit in aeroshells as part of the pathfinder phase of the colony’s development. The French standard for modular structures designed for planetary use is based on a standard 50-ton module. Most nations use this standard for convenience, though Manchuria tends to use two different standard sizes, 35 tons and 70 tons. The 50-ton module is a two-story structure, with 140 square metres per floor, and measures 5 metres tall, 8 metres wide, and 17.5 metres long. Each module has 5 Hull and 5 Structure on the vehicle scale. A 100-ton aeroshell would carry one of these modules, along with 40 tons of supplies and materials.

Building modules can be stacked in a framework up to four modules (eight stories) tall, two modules deep, and up to six modules long. The framework and all infrastructure consumes 20 tons of cargo, and costs Lv100,000. The framework must be placed into substantial foundations to support the modules. The support structure for modular buildings can also be equipped with elevators, though this is rare. Each elevator costs Lv20,000, and takes up 10 tons as cargo.

The standard modules as described are not designed for use in hostile environments, nor are they vacuum-rated, though

most of the modules are also available as HE-rated (Hostile Environment), or VAC-rated (Vacuum).

HE-rated modules cost Lv100,000 more than standard modules, and lose 28 square metres to life support, climate control and filtration equipment.

VAC-rated modules cost Lv150,000 more than standard modules, and lose 56 square metres to life support equipment. These options have to be purchased along with the module, they cannot be added after the fact.

bu i l d i n G mo d u l e s

There are a huge variety of customised modules available to support a new colony, all built on the same standard module.

u

m

This is a bare module, with no interior fittings. The price includes the cost of adding four sets of plumbing connections where desired, and the module is wired for power and communications.

TL: 10

Price: Lv100,000

h

The hospital module contains a full operating theatre, along with four static automeds, four portable medical imagers, two portable automeds, and six recovery beds, along with four freshers and an auto-kitchen for preparing meals. It requires a staff of eight medical personnel along with four support staff. Administrative and other support functions would be served by an adjacent office module or other support facility.

A typical new frontier hospital might consist of three or four hospital modules, an office module (perhaps two), a dormitory module for long term care, and a power module to ensure uninterrupted operation. Such a facility would require 32-48 medical staff, up to 16 immediate support staff, another 6-12 administrative staff, and at least two more for the power module. Even a small frontier hospital will require nearly 80 staff, but will count itself lucky if it gets even half of that number.

TL: 11

Price: Lv2,500,000

O

An office module consists of 12 offices, a small meeting room containing a smart wall, a dining area, two freshers and an autokitchen.

TL: 10

Price: Lv200,000

D

When configured as a dormitory, the module can house up to 86 people in triple bunks on the upper floor, while the lower floor is designed as cafeteria space with a full galley. The dormitory contains

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fresher and shower facilities, but they are frequently inadequate for the number of people living in them. Fortunately, these dormitories are considered temporary residences only, housing colonists until they can be relocated out to the mines or homesteads.

TL: 10

Price: Lv320,000

A

Each module can be configured as two relatively spacious apartments, or four small ones. In many cases, dormitory modules are converted into apartments once they are no longer required, at a cost of Lv10,000 per module.

TL: 10

Price: Lv250,000

C

A commercial module contains a small business on one floor, and offices and storage on the other. If the business is a restaurant or bar, the kitchen will typically be on the upper floor, staffed by a couple of human cooks or a robot, leaving the bottom level for guests and liquor/stimulants/depressants. Staffing levels are usually minimal, three to five at most, but often with one or two robots as well.

TL: 10

Price: Lv350,000

s

In the school version, each module contains two classrooms with smart walls, three small offices, and four freshers. The smart walls are run from the instructor’s portacomps and will tie into the portacomps or Link phones carried by the students. A typical module requires three staff, two teachers and an administrator. Often the role of the teacher is filled by a parent or even an older child, who provides supervision and limited assistance to the students in their self-directed learning programs.

TL: 10

Price: Lv350,000

r

The recreation module has two floors of exercise equipment, including stationery bikes, treadmills, resistance machines and free weights. Each module also contains a simulator with an omniball, used for both recreation and instruction. Time on the simulator is usually booked in advance. Other amenities include freshers, low-flow showers, and a mini-galley stocked with nutritious snacks and electrolyte-restoring drinks. When these modules are staffed at all, it is usually by one or two people on a part-time basis, along with a couple of cleaning robots.

TL: 10

Price: Lv450,000

v

s

The vehicle shop is a single-floor structure, with sufficient interior room to allow any vehicle of up to Hull 20 to be serviced. It includes a hydraulic lift, along with a full suite of tools and a light fabricator for small parts.

Larger vehicles are accommodated by a larger inflatable or collapsible structure, equipped with a concrete pit instead of the lift for servicing beneath the vehicles. This shelter is included as part of the vehicle shop, and shipped inside it. Due to the requirements of the lift, the vehicle shop must be carefully sited with the underside resting on a full foundation. The vehicle shop counts as two buildings for the purpose of power requirements. To operate at full efficiency, a vehicle shop requires two mechanics and four helpers. The nature of the work makes it difficult to replace skilled humans with robots, though expert systems are among the tools available.

TL: 10

Price: Lv900,000

m

s

The machine shop is essential for any young colony, as it allows the manufacture and repair of parts for vehicles and equipment. A machine shop module contains a medium fabricator, three small fabricators, and a wide variety of CAD/CAM cutters and lathes to manufacture just about any part. A machine shop module counts as three normal modules for power consumption purposes.

Like the vehicle shop, the machine shop requires skilled operators, with at least one required to be on shift when the facility is in operation, with another available for maintenance and repair.

TL: 11

Price: Lv1,200,000

p

m

The power module contains a pair of fuel cells and a fuel processor, along with an array of solar cells for cracking fuel. All it requires to operate is a steady supply of water to process as fuel. The power module can provide enough power to run 20 modules. Other power systems are further detailed in the next chapter, entitled Power Systems.

The power module requires three full-time engineering and maintenance staff. This crew requirement can cover up to two power modules, and though each subsequent module after that entails a cumulative DM-1 to all Mechanics or Engineer (power) checks.

TL: 11

Price: Lv2,000,000

s

The purpose-built sawmill module can process 250 metres of 5 x 10 cm (colloquially called ‘two-by-fours’ from some long- forgotten measurement system) timbers per hour, for as long as it is supplied with raw logs. Once cut, the timbers are dried in a kiln while a silica mixture is pressure-fed into the lumber to preserve it. In addition to 5x10 cm boards, the sawmill can cut boards as thin as 2 cm, or as thick as 15 cm, and treat any of them in the kiln.

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Even sawdust does not go to waste, as vacuum systems collect it and combine it with resins and glass fibre to build sheets of construction and utility material, usually in 125 x 250 cm sheets, generally 1 cm thick. Alongside the lumber, the mill can produce 10 sheets per hour. Operation of the mill is largely automated, requiring three to five personnel to feed logs in, and two to monitor equipment. The sawmill requires three modules worth of power.

TL: 10

Price: Lv650,000

g

m

The grain mill is a standardised module capable of milling any terrestrial grain or seed into flour or other powder of suitable consistency, like meal. Typical crops milled are cereal crops suited to the colony, like quinoa, corn, and amaranth, and their genetically-engineered counterparts. The module is fed by external hoppers, which it pulls in and processes. Chaff and waste products are held and disposed of separately, often in biomass reactors. The grain mill requires two module’s worth of power.

The grain mill requires one operator and one maintenance person. The maintenance person can be stretched to cover more than one module, but more than two will entail a cumulative DM-1 to all Mechanic checks.

TL: 10

Price: Lv550,000

A

m

The slaughtering and butchering of animals for human consumption can be done by hand, but for volume processing a more automated process is far more cost-effective. The abattoir can process 60 tons on animals per hour, killing and rendering them, then flash-freezing the meat and skins for future use. Waste by-products from the process can be used as fertiliser, fish food, and fish bait, among other things, so very little of an animal goes to waste. The process is as humane as possible, and starts with a livestock-rated sonic stunner before the animal is instantly killed by a pneumatic bolt to the base of the brain. The rest of the process takes about 10 minutes. Skins are subject in an initial chemical treatment to clean and preserve them before being flash-frozen for later processing by skilled human artisans. The abattoir requires four staff for normal operation, and usually uses a couple more people or robots for cleaning.

TL: 10

Price: Lv600,000

W

t

m

While waste water and solids can be disposed of in large septic fields (100 sq. metres required per person), it is usually considered a more sound practice to treat it in some way. The compact waste treatment module uses accelerated biological processes to clean and filter waste water and household biomass. It is not suitable for cleaning industrial effluent, however. The mix

of liquid and solid wastes enter at the top of one of the narrow sides of the module. There, the material cascades down through multiple levels, leaving solids behind as it flows. Plants and microbes act to clean the waste as it moves through the system. Solids are removed and sterilised by ultraviolet radiation for use as fertilizer and in terraforming operations, while the treated water is likewise sterilised and reused for human consumption. Catfish in the system act as algae cleaners on the filter systems, and can also used as food once they get too big for their tanks. One treatment module is required for every 500 people in a settlement. The waste treatment module requires one module worth of power for operation.

The module does not require any full-time staff to monitor it, but it does need to be checked on a daily basis to ensure proper functioning, and and to perform any required maintenance.

TL: 10

Price: Lv500,000

m

C

In harsh or inclement environments, modules can be connected by enclosed corridors suspended above the ground on pylons, and connect to the upper doors found on most modules. This corridor is 2.5 metres high by 3 metres wide, and a typical section is 10 metres long. The 2.5-metre pylons are fixed to the ground in concrete foundations. Each corridor section takes up 1 ton on a starship, but most are collapsible for shipping, only taking up 0.25 tons.

TL: 10

Price: Lv20,000 per section

m

m

The Manchurians use two different standardised modules for their colonies. The 35-ton and 70-ton modules are quite common, with the smaller module used for housing and offices, and the larger module used more for community spaces.

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35-

m

The Manchurian 35-ton module is two stories tall, and 11.5 metres in diameter. There are 2 doors, both on ground level. There are no windows on the ground, only on the second floor. They can be stacked without the need of a rack, unlike the French modules, with a maximum height of three modules. The interior stairwell from each module can connect to the others. Power, water and sewer interfaces are standardised.

TL: 9

Price: Lv75,000

70-ton Unconfigured Module

This much larger module is three stories tall, and 23 metres in diameter. Like the smaller module, it can be easily stacked, up to three modules tall, without a supporting rack structure. Again, access is through the interior stairs and an interior elevator shaft.

TL: 9

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bu i l d i n G Fr o m sC r A t C h

Buildings do not have to be prefabricated marvels shipped from an orbital factory in the Core. Anyone with a set of tools and some lumber, or a chainsaw and some ingenuity, can build a shed, barn or house by themselves or with a little help.

Buying a purpose-built wood or metal frame building and having someone building it for you will cost around Lv250 per square metre, and will take about 15 days. Doing the work yourself will cut the cost in half, but will take 2 man-days of time per square metre. Using local materials will cut the cost to just tools and fasteners, but will double the time required. So a typical 70-square metre house (7x10 metres) would cost Lv35,000 to buy and have someone build for you. If you did the work yourself, by yourself, the cost would only be Lv17,500, but it would take you 140 days to build. If you used local materials, then it would take you 280 days to build it. Adding one person to your crew, however, it would cut the time in half.