3 ms·

Just looking at the designs - almost all have a rounded base - pretty sure that would cause a weird 'gravity' direction anywhere except the centre-line of the r

Just looking at the designs - almost all have a rounded base - pretty sure that would cause a weird 'gravity' direction anywhere except the centre-line of the ring. (Sorry I've been readying The Expanse series too much and it's making me very pedantic about spin gravity)

jayd16 5y ago
Yeah? How so? Weird in what way?
- tnorthcutt 5y ago
  If the floor is curved, then the direction of gravity would not be perpendicular to the floor (except at the exact apex of the curve), so you'd have a weird sensation of standing on a slope all the time. Instead, you'd probably want either a non-curved structure, or a flat false floor inside of it that is perpendicular to the direction of gravity. That would probably work ok though, since it would give you an easy place to run e.g. cabling, air handling, fluids, etc.
  - matthewdgreen 5y ago
    >so you'd have a weird sensation of standing on a slope all the time. I mean, lots of people live on slopes here on Earth. It's actually a pretty desirable terrain, as long as you're not farming it. You can see in many of the toroidal stations that the hillsides are terraced and treated like slopes.
    - tnorthcutt 5y ago
      Sure, but as you mentioned, they're usually terraced, and you wouldn't e.g. build a house on a slope without leveling the site first, so your floors are perpendicular to gravity.
      - jayd16 5y ago
        Well sure, but that doesn't sound weird at all.
  - Robotbeat 5y ago
    You need the edges to be curved for structural reasons. It’s also a giant pressure vessel and pressure vessels don’t take right angles very efficiently. Also, gentle hills are fine.
kijin 5y ago
The edges of the habitable area should be treated as if they were hills getting gradually steeper. The direction of gravity won't be perpendicular to the curvature of the hull, but who says you need to stick to the hull? Even on Earth, people don't stand diagonally on hillsides. We build stairs, towers, and terraced gardens, with man-made floors perpendicular to the direction of gravity. Some of the illustrations are more realistic than others in this respect.

jayd16 5y ago

Yeah? How so? Weird in what way?

tnorthcutt 5y ago
If the floor is curved, then the direction of gravity would not be perpendicular to the floor (except at the exact apex of the curve), so you'd have a weird sensation of standing on a slope all the time. Instead, you'd probably want either a non-curved structure, or a flat false floor inside of it that is perpendicular to the direction of gravity. That would probably work ok though, since it would give you an easy place to run e.g. cabling, air handling, fluids, etc.
- matthewdgreen 5y ago
  >so you'd have a weird sensation of standing on a slope all the time. I mean, lots of people live on slopes here on Earth. It's actually a pretty desirable terrain, as long as you're not farming it. You can see in many of the toroidal stations that the hillsides are terraced and treated like slopes.
  - tnorthcutt 5y ago
    Sure, but as you mentioned, they're usually terraced, and you wouldn't e.g. build a house on a slope without leveling the site first, so your floors are perpendicular to gravity.
    - jayd16 5y ago
      Well sure, but that doesn't sound weird at all.
- Robotbeat 5y ago
  You need the edges to be curved for structural reasons. It’s also a giant pressure vessel and pressure vessels don’t take right angles very efficiently. Also, gentle hills are fine.

kijin 5y ago

The edges of the habitable area should be treated as if they were hills getting gradually steeper. The direction of gravity won't be perpendicular to the curvature of the hull, but who says you need to stick to the hull? Even on Earth, people don't stand diagonally on hillsides. We build stairs, towers, and terraced gardens, with man-made floors perpendicular to the direction of gravity. Some of the illustrations are more realistic than others in this respect.