Speed Optimization - need to calculate the optimum speed for a given voyage

some context here -

http://www.npc.org/Study_Topic_Papers/28-TTG-TransportEfficiency.pdf

and here -

http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/pdf/10.1596/1813-9450-2781

"Transport efficiency" for ships is probably what you are talking about. It has been studied for about 1400 years. How many wars have been fought over shipping routes and ports? There are thousands of documents.

I first encountered the term here on the forum, and have been reading stuff ever since. It's an important factor in geopolitics and international economics.

 

Reminds me of the movie Captain Phillips. Report has it that he deliberately took the route in pirate infested area to save fuel and time. A risk he took with dire consequences.

 

Sounds like a complex business study to me, not sure an Excel spreadsheet is suitable for that, but it is a versatile tool !

 

Yes it gets very complicated when you take into account the how the voyage time influences pricing and how to optimise the time spent at sea vs. time waiting for a cargo etc. Lately (starting from 2008) there is a trend to go slow in order to save fuel (and CO2). Probably also caused by having too many ships for the need.

 

Indeed, but if he can import info from databases into his program on weather forecast and other data information, he could be on something what will give our Greek friend a chance to earn some money, the country is in a bad shape at present. Good luck to him. But he probably has to do it in C or in C++. His main problem will be, to come up wit an algorithm which includes an reasonable accurate sliding scale for nil to maximum for all variable parameters. Bert

 

Thank you all very much for your help.

Although I do not intend to create the best tool in order to become rich I think I will learn a lot of stuff.

Chris Pap.

 

Chris, the golden rule is, do it the first time right. You have a battle to work through all relevant information in anyway. Why not creating a program while learning at the same time? Get a student friend who is a C or C++ student or if he has the knowledge of a better software package and come to an agreement with him. Or get 2 friends. Not more than 3, included you, otherwise it will be a discussion forum instead of getting a good end result product. No result will ever be 100%, thus if you can make a tool which is reasonable accurate, you will learn and you have a chance to make some money after your country is declared bankrupt. EU will never allow your country to carry on with the most luxurious state pension fund payouts to elderly people. Give it a try.Bert

 

Bert,
I will continue with that project and I try to make it probably in excel. As for the C++ my knowledge is very limited so I will give it a try with VBA programming which I have experience on.

Thanks Again,
Chris

 

VBA is ok for creating in-app scripts in MS Office components like Excel.
If you ever decide to make this become a stand-alone program, you might take a look at FreeBasic, an open-cource version of Basic:
http://www.freebasic.net/
I use it from time to time besides C. A great thing about Basic is that it is so simple language that you can concentrate on the mathematical and logical algorithm of the problem without wasting time on nuances of language semantics, handling of types etc. At least that's how it works for me.
At the end of that page you will also find a link to FbEdit, a very nice IDE for FreeBasic.
Cheers

 

Hi Chris, I have enough experience with VBA programming. I am not a computer technician expert in programming, but a naval technician who has developed applications with VBA. Among others, I developed an estimate of the propulsive power according to the method of Holtrop-Mennen, in an Excel spreadsheet. You can see some of my programs on my website. If you think I can be of help, just say it.

 

Hi Chris,
There is some good advice from the last two members. Go for it, Visual basic is an option, if you import information from external sources, but like Daiquiri suggested, is a better option. If Tansl allows you to utilize his hard work, you are already halfway. Some Universities gives support in marketing Students products, like Stellenbosch University, I assume that this is also maybe the case in Greece.

Good luck, go for it, but make sure that the user of your future software program understands, that he can save probably money, by using your program. That will be the key to your success in understanding your original question #1 and making some money with it. Bert

 

Building a software solution would be an interesting exercise, but I get the feeling some people think it would be something new.

Shipping companies have had these type of analysis tool for 50 years, and if you join a company that runs shipping, you will be using whatever in-house solution they have developed.

The formulae/algorithms come into effect a LONG time before simple route analysis. They deal with the required performance/characteristics of the ship long before it is built or purchased.

Then there is the monitoring of the vessels actual costs. I was involved in updating a software package that calculated the performance of individual systems ( weapons, propulsions, comms etc ) on Australian Navy warships - and if individual components failed, then the manufacturer had to pay compensation to the navy. I would bet that this approach is used on most new ship purchases, military or not.

In that case - the tool used was MS Access - combining the "big list" capability with the less complex VB language. That would be a good tool to commence with to get the experience.

 

rwatson, I do not quite know what you're talking about, I guess is right what you say and what you suppose, but I have the feeling of not being with you.
In every field of human knowledge they are continually generating programs, doing what previous programs, but improving some aspects and, therefore, replacing the previous programs, which are obsolete. Not to mention the successive versions of the same program year after year, they improve it.
I do not understand your phrase "combining the" big list "capability with the less complex VB language". VB is a less complex language than which one?. There are programming languages suitable than others depending on what things but do not know what the complexity of which you speak.
Again, in any facet of human activity you can do something to improve what already exists. Very few people are able to invent things but to improve it only takes a little knowledge and the will to do so. Therefore, let's encourage Chris to go on.

 

For further explanation "big list capability means the ability to store huge lists or data files
Neither VB C or Excel has competent data handling built in.
VB is much easier to learn than C

 

I know what a great list. Thanks anyway for such a clear explanation.

VB and C are very different things to Excel. Should not mix apples and oranges. The ability to handle large data lists depends much more on hardware than software. Without changing programming languages, capacity in data management has increased greatly due to the progress in hardware.

I can't imagine why. Moreover, I think that is not correct. But of course, it depends on the ability of each.