We're pleased to announce the release of a new Work-in-Progress (WIP) version of Orca3D. This new version (1.3 WIP 2012-09-07) includes further development of the Longitudinal Strength analysis capability and the beginning of a developable surface hull assistant. A few minor bugs were also corrected. More detail is included below, and as always, the Release Notes are the best resource to find out what has changed in each release.
Have you signed up for the Rhino and Orca3D training at IBEX yet? The training will consist of two four-hour sessions, October 2nd and 3rd, in Louisville, Kentucky, in conjunction with the IBEX show. If you're going to IBEX, why not take some time to improve your Rhino and Orca3D skills? We'll have Rhino experts and Orca3D developers on hand to answer your questions and work through marine-specific exercises. To learn more and to register, click here. If you're not planning to go to IBEX, you should consider it. It's the premier tradeshow of its kind in the U.S., and a great place to see the latest products for boatbuilding and make industry connections.
The OrcaLongitudinalStrength command has continued to be developed. It has been created to facilitate a simple beam bending model by computing shear force, bending moment, and stress, using the existing Orca3D buoyancy and weight computation capabilities. This new command should be considered as “under development." It is still lacking a formatted report (plotted and csv output are available), and it is limited to still water (no wave). We plan to continue its development through future Orca3D WIP releases.
The beginnings of a hull assistant for developable surfaces are included in this WIP. It is similar to the planing hull assistant, but developable surfaces are created using Rhino's loft command. We expect that in the future other technology will replace the loft command, but it's interesting to adjust the various controls in the assistant and see the generators update. As with other assistants, you can also watch the sections and hydrostatics update in real time.
As with all Orca3D WIP releases, your feedback on the new features is welcome.
As a WIP, there will certainly be feature additions, changes, or removals before the final release, but this is your chance to give us feedback and suggestions. A few important notes to be aware of:
- Only one version of Orca3D may be installed at a time. Therefore, you must uninstall Orca3D from your computer before installing this WIP.
- No change to your License is required. The new version of Orca3D will find your existing License.
- Portions of the Help file may not be entirely up to date.
- This WIP will expire on November 7th. Either the final version of Orca3D 1.3 will be released before then, or a new WIP will be released.
If you have questions as you install and use the new release, remember that you can:
- send an email to support@orca3d.com
- read through the Help file which is available from the Orca3D menu in Rhino, and on our web site here
- post a question on the Orca3D forum
To download the new version, please visit www.orca3d.com/wip.
Thank you very much for using Orca3D, and we look forward to hearing from you!
DRS Technologies, Inc., Advanced Marine Technology Center
