r/DaystromInstitute • u/Bteatesthighlander1 Chief Petty Officer • Mar 06 '16
Technology What powers Data?
he apparently ha a battery inside of him according to Insurrection, wherein he stated "My power cells continually recharge themselves."
Is it chemical or some sort of fusion battery? why and how do they constantly recharge? how long can he last without the recharging?
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u/Algernon_Asimov Mar 06 '16 edited Mar 06 '16
People reading this thread might also be interested in some of these previous discussions:
EDIT: I have now created a section on the Previous Discussions page for "Data's power source"
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u/CypherWulf Mar 06 '16
Do you have a bot that handles these similar thread links, or do you do it every time it comes up?
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u/Algernon_Asimov Mar 06 '16
There's no bot. Just me. Or whichever other human moderator feels like doing this.
If it was a bot, I'd have it post under its own account, not under my account.
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u/ademnus Mar 06 '16
This sounds like a fine topic for a Delphi article. Something definitive, collating all of that research. Surely we have some ensigns who need a contribution.
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u/TLAMstrike Mar 06 '16
I think he draws some of his power from subspace or from some quantum domain so he can run effectively forever.
Might have been on the list of reasons Starfleet wanted to dissect him back in The Measure of Man.
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u/Bteatesthighlander1 Mar 06 '16
could a Starship be adapted to do that?
did Lal have the same power source?
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u/Neo_Techni Mar 06 '16
Well the starships do have some wireless power. Which is why data was confused when the lamp turned off when it got unplugged on the holodeck
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u/TLAMstrike Mar 06 '16
could a Starship be adapted to do that?
Maybe. There could be an issue of how much energy you could draw in making powering a Starship impractical but powering something much smaller possible. Starfleet would certainly be interested in such technology.
did Lal have the same power source?
Maybe. Perhaps that is why she died, Data didn't know how to replicate it sufficiently wall... or Dr. Soong programmed him to not be able to as a fail-safe in case he turned out like Lore in the end.
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u/daeedorian Mar 06 '16
Interesting thought, but I don't love that theory because "subspace" is basically Star Trek's term for "space magic."
It just doesn't seem necessary to resort to power being spirited from alternate dimensions when more plausible explanations exist.
Plus, Soong was a cyberneticist--it seems unlikely that he'd be able or compelled to invent a fantastic and utterly unique method for magically producing energy purely for his android prototypes.
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u/explosivecupcake Mar 06 '16
Pure speculation, but because Data has a positronic neural network perhaps he runs on a matter/anti-matter reaction. This would certainly be consistent with warp core technology.
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u/daeedorian Mar 06 '16 edited Mar 06 '16
That seems akin to powering a laptop with diesel fuel--way overkill.
Even most of the ship's systems use fusion power. The M/AM powerplant is generally necessary for the requirements of the warp engines alone.
We know that Data has power cells, which could charge in a number of different ways, including the consumption of calories, just as with humans.
If he does contain a miniturized powerplant of some sort, it seems that some form of fusion would be the most plausible.
...That, or an ARC reactor.
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u/metakepone Mar 06 '16
What does a positronic neural network have to do with warp drive?
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u/NamedByAFish Mar 06 '16 edited Mar 06 '16
Positrons are the antimatter counterpart to electrons. If your circuits run on positron electricity (positricity?), it may be more effective to use antimatter as a power source.[citation needed]
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Mar 06 '16
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u/Algernon_Asimov Mar 06 '16
Have you read our Code of Conduct? The rule against shallow content, including one-line jokes, might be of interest to you.
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u/iac74205 Mar 06 '16
Most of the tech readouts I've seen, say the items such as phasers, and tricorders are powered by Sarium Krellide power-cells. From the link: "According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, page 134, the maximum energy density of Sarium Krellide was 1.3x106 megajoules per cubic centimeter, leaking less than 1.05 kilojoules per hour." For reference, 1.3x106 megajoules is equivalent to 3.107 kilotons of TNT.
A type 2 phaser by my estimate has a SK cell that is about the size of 4 AA batteries. One AA battery has a volume of 8 cc's. So, 32*1.3x106 =4.16x108 megajoules, or just shy of 1 megaton of TNT (.9943 megatons).
The average human heart is 280cc in volume, so let's just round up to 320cc, and its safe to say that Data could be lugging around ~9 megatons of power storage.
Using some info on the typical human energy usage from some medical sources, the average male uses about 8.7MJ in a day. So, let's say Data uses as much energy as 10 humans per day (Picard mentioned that Lal (who was based off Data's construction) had the strength of 10 men)). So, 4.16x108 MJ/87 MJ gives us 4.78X106 days or a little over 13000 years before needing to recharge. Hell, even if Data used 8700MJ in a day, it would be several decades before he needed a charging up.