to Rhino users...

[michal]

After a few days of working with Rhino demo version I am really impressed of its power and precision..and now thinking only about money. But there is one important funcion I have looking for and can not find so far: possibility of input weight to surface or group of surfaces per unt area for construction material(plywood, glass, core etc.) to find "real" LCG or VCG. Ihope I am just blind...am I?

Thanks for any comments.... Michal

[Jeff]

I didn't know the answer to this question myself, but I was very curious since Rhino is on my to-learn list. I asked both McNeel & Associates and Cliff Estes who has created the hydrostatics add-on for Rhino.

The bad news is that it looks like this ability does not currently exist, but the good news is that new plug-ins are in store. Rhino is getting better and better for yacht design!

I don't think Cliff will mind if I post his full reply here:

There is currently not a function in Rhino for this. It would need a plugin, which I plan to write when I have finished with my current projects. The plugin will have the complete functionality of a weight estimating program. You will be able to place weight and center of gravity information on the surface (and any other object in Rhino) and an Access-compatible database will allow you to create a weight estimate report based on all the weight data stored in the model. A similar product will be developed for AutoCAD and the models will be compatible.

************************************************
*** Cliff W. Estes
*** BaseLine Technology ph (425)882-7317
*** 15834 NE 67th Place fax (425)882-7327
*** Redmond, WA 98052 http://www.basline.com/
************************************************

[michal]

Big thanks to You Jeff...

[BHays]

We are the developers of the PHASER plug-in for Rhino, which does both hydrostatics and stability. It computes hydrostatics for any number of waterplanes, or an overall weight and cg. In addition, it will compute righting arm data for any range of heel angles, and plot all of the data in Excel.

We have had requests for this type of input, and plan to respond in the near future. You can find out more about Phaser at http://www.proteusengineering.com/phaser.htm.

Best Regards,
Bruce Hays