I know a lot of folk are against shields and a lot are in favour of them so how about a compromise
if your hull is 90% or more it very slowly builds back up to 100%
this could take anything from 5 minutes to 5 hours (insert time period here)
but if your hull falls below 90% then it stays that way

just an idea feel free to flame it

Make it an addon that regenerates at a set number of armor per second, and only starts regenerating if you fire that port, which drains energy. Also add a graphic so it is easy to identify when someone is regenerating.

Regenerative Nanites:
Small Port
5/5/3/3/-
Regen: 50/second
Energy: 70/second
Mass: 2000kg
Price: 20k (?)
Faction: Xang Xi (robotics, have no unique ship)
Standing: Respect (200)

(12.5 consecutive seconds [625 armor] for a full FC battery) 5.68% of a WTD's armor
(22 consecutive seconds [1100 armor] for a full Heavy battery) 10% of a WTD's armor

Advanced Regenerative Nanites:
Large Port
8/4/8/6/-
Regen: 110/second
Energy: 90/second
Mass: 3500kg
Price: 50k (?)
Faction: Xang Xi (robotics, have no unique ship)
Standing: Admire (600)

(6.25 consecutive seconds [688 armor] for a full FC battery) 6.25% of a WTD's armor
(12.22 consecutive seconds [1344 armor] for a full HC battery) 12.22% of a WTD's armor

The way these are balanced, you could use them in combat, but it would only repair you a little for a full powercell. Add to that the extreme mass and high price, and it's not going to break combat.

+1

I think docked gunners should be able to repair a capship slowly from within by *not* occupying a turret.

^ That'd be nice. Speaking of, there could be a version of the above more geared toward capships, too.

While tarenty's idea has merit Iwas thinking of an automated system that saves you having to dock so often just becasuse you took a little damage every now and then

You don't need to dock if you have a little damage. Just fly around with 80%, not a big deal.

Yeah at the moment the functionality of your ship isn't affected at all by damage. Just this weekend I tagged an NPC convoy, bagged the cargo, and killed 2 players en-route to my destination without repairing in between.

+1 to Nahin's regenerative nanites idea.

Hhmmm... I'd prefer to see that as

Repair Bots

You can either equip it in some port, or work from cargo bay while we don't have utility port.

Pilot activates the repair bot. A collector bot lauches from capship and uses a "capship grade" repair gun on the ship, then dock back.

Advantages:
-More "realistic"
-Visually interesting and integrated to existing assets
-Can be disrupted by attackers
-Cannot be used while turboing or repair bot lags behind and gets lost.