Design Sequence Overview

Vehicles are constructed from design elements or components. The design elements of a vehicle are divided into four groups: engines, fuel, hull and payload. Power supply is subsumed into engines, payload or both. The elements are considered to have three types of characteristics: physical characteristics, functional characteristics and cost. Physical characteristics are volume, mass, power consumption and sometimes surface area required. Functional characteristics define what the element does, e.g. the brightness of a beam weapon, the exhaust velocity of a drive system or the resolution of a sensor. All elements share the same physical characteristics, but the functional characteristics depend on the type of element. A major part of this design sequence will be establishing the relationship between the physical and functional characteristics of a component and determining its price.

The future of Ad Astra