Best Marine Design Software for Hull Modeling? (2007)

Pen and paper I have allways the latest update, bug free, easy-to-use interphase...

 

Built-in spell-checker?

 

Yes but incorrect too often - bloody igorant programmer!!!

Leo, Are you involved with michlet & godzilla? I would love to give it a run but although Delftship & Freeship work on Linux with "wine" as the interface - the former seem to be inclined against delivering the service designed... any ideas?

 

Yes, I wrote Michlet. Sorry, but I don't use "Linux and wine" so I can't help you.

Good luck,
Leo.

 

Thanks Leo, (belated sorry). How about contacting Delft & incorporate your applications into their design - I am sure they could use an engineer and programmer of your skill in enhancing that product. & on a royalty basis could be useful.

Good luck -mas- . . . . . Leo, In rereading earlier post I hope you did not think my first comment was at you as a programmer - My intent was at defective spellchecker between my ears - a bad self programming bit gone worse....

 

Leo, I am severely impressed by Freeship and Michlet. I have been designing the crude layout of my catamaran design with Freeship, and have been helped by Rick Willoughby who uses Michlet/Godzilla.
Have you ever thought of doing a really dumbed down version which still gives good results?
A total laymen could enter some data in much the same way that one would fill out a questionaire form. Each detail will be listed in order of the designer's priorities.
From there, the program can do a complete rendering of a hull that best fits all of the requirements entered by the designer. The designer can re-enter any particular variable, and change any particular priority, until he is satisfied with the final compromise.

Obviously this would take a lot of work to write a program like this. It is a higher level program. But it would be incredibly popular.....trust me on that. You would be selling it to a very broad market.

Keeping in mind the 'dumbed down' concept (which is not really dumbed down at all....just speedy), you could take it all the way to a fully blown VPP which includes the testing of sail rigs.

Just a thought from a person who likes your work.

- Richard

 

I agree with what Richard expressed. I use Delftship amongst others but it would be really cool to make chop and changes on-the-fly and add features etc. Not so simple though, but could be worth it. Could be THE most popular software for boat designing.

 

An example of some added features:
Instead of just selecting a rudder or keel from a library (I am only familiar with Free!ship), and seeing it appear in the rough proximity of the stern, why not take it a whole lot further....
You could select masts, booms, cabin house structures, and even sails if you want to take it that far.
All of these items will be automatically attached to areas of the hull that have been pre-defined by the user.
Then the program will automatically relocate these items, and change their proportions, as much as the user will allow the program to do so, in order to find the best compromise between the user's preference and the program's optimisation.
The program will optimise all the different parts according to the priority list specified by the user. So if a tall mast is number one priority, then the program will only shorten the mast if all other adjustments are unsatisfactory.
Then after this rapid preliminary stage, the user can still have the option of actually clicking on control points and edges and fine-tuning the design. This final stage is most likely to be mainly for aesthetic purposes.

That would be a KILLER program.

 

Richard, are you looking for BUILDING PLANS ?

Yes it would be nice... also if one could add features along the hull line, bulkheads etc.

Talk about tall orders.

 

It sounds like extreme fuzzy logic...but it's not. As long as the user is able to input all the necessary data, it is very possible for a good programmer to design this sort of software. It is mathematics.
The biggest challenge for the programmer would be finding all the applicable engineering information in order to automate all the strength calculations etc. and keeping himself awake for the next few years!!
I imagine this type of 'super-software' might best be done as a group effort.
That is...unless Leo is superman. Maybe he is.

 

Besides, the software could be developed and released in small stages....like Free!ship.
Perhaps leave out all the engineering calculations to begin with, and just focus on basic weight distribution and hydro/aerodynamics (boat performance rather than structural integrity).

 

Hull modeling and AutoLisp routines

If you're into looking at a barebones conceptual design standpoint of a bare hull with rudimentary displacement and waterline calculations for up to six chined hullshape, you can give Carlson's Chine Hull Designer a whirl. I wrote a set of AutoLisp (IntelliCAD specific only) routines to take the 2D orthographic DXF output from Hull Designer and uses that to semi-automatically create a DXF 3D Mesh of the hull. Both are on the FILES page at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/boatdesign/

BobG

 

Here's a "wizard" that does a subset of what you've described. It works with Carlson's Chine Hull Designer. Here:
http://www.geocities.com/lew_clayman/hulwiz_define.htm

 

Thanks for the kind comments, and apologies for not replying earlier. (I don't read this thread often).

I have made a few improvements to Michlet (current version 8.10) that I sent out to a small coterie of users a few weeks ago, but I don't plan on expanding its capabilities regularly. It's more of a hobby interest these days.

Maybe there is a market for the "dumbed down" version you suggested, but I don't have time to pursue it. I'm far more interested in "smartening up" my codes to be more powerful. Unfortunately, that makes them too difficult for casual users and too intensive for combining with Freeship which already struggles with some calculations. Also, Freeship can't handle trimarans, surface effect ships or hovercraft, so I'm not planning on wedding my other codes to it.

All the best,
Leo.

 

I have tried some of the softwares listed above in the comparison chart and i can certainly vouch for Maxsurf. Its surface fairness tools are superior to the others. I've been using it for the past two years and am very satisfied with its support and regular updates.