Get a Clew!
Posted by:: König Prüße, GfbAEV
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 14:36:39 GMT
--------
Clew: the aft bottom triangular corner of a sail
to which the clew outhaul is attached.
Clew outhaul: a bowsie-adjusted line running
from a fixed point on the main or jib boom through
an eye at the aft end of the boom to the sail clew.
Used to adjust tension at the foot of the sail.
I think that I've invented something.
But maybe someone else already has done it.
So, one time I'm sailing and I noticed that when
I was adjusting a sail, I would pull in on the sail
and the thrust force increased, but only up to a
point; then the thrust seemed to decrease. This
seems plausible, that there's an optimum "set" point.
So, what occurred to me is to hook-in digital scales
and servo-motors so that when running, the sail thrust
could be optimized from time to time. This can be done
by "feel" but with digital scales and servos, you wouldn't
have to untie the line from the cleat to "feel" the pull.
OK, I'm going to have some Grolsch and a smoked trout now.
Posted by:: John Cook
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 10:24:13 +1000
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König Prüße wrote:
> I think that I've invented something.
> But maybe someone else already has done it.
>
> So, one time I'm sailing and I noticed that when
> I was adjusting a sail, I would pull in on the sail
> and the thrust force increased, but only up to a
> point; then the thrust seemed to decrease. This
> seems plausible, that there's an optimum "set" point.
Yes that's an invention - you noticed something and stepped sideways here...
You realized that that 'set' point is not a position on the capstan it's
a particular tension...
> So, what occurred to me is to hook-in digital scales
> and servo-motors so that when running, the sail thrust
> could be optimized from time to time. This can be done
> by "feel" but with digital scales and servos, you wouldn't
> have to untie the line from the cleat to "feel" the pull.
then you make a conceptual design of how to do it...
I do this inventing stuff a lot - when I get to this (early) stage I try
to not get stuck on any one 'solution' - hell, you now have a Juicy
Problem... make up all sorts of possibilities.
I find that if u creat enough of a field of possibilities it sort of
resolves itself into something elegant after a while (in some cases with
me it's taken years)
> OK, I'm going to have some Grolsch and a smoked trout now.
and on the seventh day...
--
John Cook
The Bandwidth of reality is Wonderfully wide
Posted by:: König Prüße, GfbAEV
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 04:12:47 GMT
--------
John Cook wrote:
>König Prüße wrote:
>
>> I think that I've invented something.
>> But maybe someone else already has done it.
>>
>> So, one time I'm sailing and I noticed that when
>> I was adjusting a sail, I would pull in on the sail
>> and the thrust force increased, but only up to a
>> point; then the thrust seemed to decrease. This
>> seems plausible, that there's an optimum "set" point.
>
>Yes that's an invention - you noticed something and stepped sideways here...
>
>You realized that that 'set' point is not a position on the capstan it's
>a particular tension...
>
>
>> So, what occurred to me is to hook-in digital scales
>> and servo-motors so that when running, the sail thrust
>> could be optimized from time to time. This can be done
>> by "feel" but with digital scales and servos, you wouldn't
>> have to untie the line from the cleat to "feel" the pull.
>
>then you make a conceptual design of how to do it...
>
>I do this inventing stuff a lot - when I get to this (early) stage I try
>to not get stuck on any one 'solution' - hell, you now have a Juicy
>Problem... make up all sorts of possibilities.
Well, I've got all the parts to the solution--
For example, the tension curve isn't symetrical.
It's longer on the front than the back, the fall-off is quicker.
But from Computer Modeling and Simulation class,
I have softwares for curve section searches for max--
From my time at the Naval Research Laboratory and
work with robotics, I encountered a robot Vicarm that
had Parkinson's! And there's some about modeling
Parkinson's disease on robots on the web, and the
adjustment for max sail thrust shouldn't require more
that a few (5) trials before arriving at a good "set"
position.
The hardware, I'd thought to use a nylon screw arrangement.
With the sailing, I done a lot to make her go faster;
wetting down the sheets and pissing off the stern!
Posted by:: John Cook
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 14:39:11 +1000
--------
König Prüße wrote:
> John Cook wrote:
>
>
>>König Prüße wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I think that I've invented something.
>>>But maybe someone else already has done it.
....
>>I do this inventing stuff a lot - when I get to this (early) stage I try
>>to not get stuck on any one 'solution' - hell, you now have a Juicy
>>Problem... make up all sorts of possibilities.
>
>
> Well, I've got all the parts to the solution--
> For example, the tension curve isn't symetrical.
> It's longer on the front than the back, the fall-off is quicker.
>
> But from Computer Modeling and Simulation class,
> I have softwares for curve section searches for max--
>
> From my time at the Naval Research Laboratory and
> work with robotics, I encountered a robot Vicarm that
> had Parkinson's! And there's some about modeling
> Parkinson's disease on robots on the web, and the
> adjustment for max sail thrust shouldn't require more
> that a few (5) trials before arriving at a good "set"
> position.
>
> The hardware, I'd thought to use a nylon screw arrangement.
>
> With the sailing, I done a lot to make her go faster;
> wetting down the sheets and pissing off the stern!
subG are natural inventors
I've got some stuff that would make your boat go faster (using the wave
energy it's exposed too) I worked with Ben Lexan (sp?) back in the
winged keel days - he just couldn't get it past the rules.
A lot of my stuff is about wings, waves and boats...
Currently working on a hydrofoil self-adjust mechanism that Actually
works. Have built one - it worked very well then broke - making a
better one now. Learning how to make files for lazer cutting...
Sooo much to do - just got back from having a burger 'n beer at Magnem's
sidewalk - so I've done my babe watching for the day - better get to WORK.
--
John Cook
The Bandwidth of reality is Wonderfully wide
Posted by:: König Prüße, GfbAEV
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 05:09:44 GMT
--------
John Cook wrote:
>subG are natural inventors
>
>I've got some stuff that would make your boat go faster (using the wave
>energy it's exposed too) I worked with Ben Lexan (sp?) back in the
>winged keel days - he just couldn't get it past the rules.
>
>A lot of my stuff is about wings, waves and boats...
>
>Currently working on a hydrofoil self-adjust mechanism that Actually
>works. Have built one - it worked very well then broke - making a
>better one now. Learning how to make files for lazer cutting...
>
>Sooo much to do - just got back from having a burger 'n beer at Magnem's
>sidewalk - so I've done my babe watching for the day - better get to WORK.
>
>--
>John Cook
>
There're some fun softwares for sail and hull design.
The sail designs you can print-out on a plotter for patterns
to cut the sail parts.
http://www.sailcut.com/
The boat hull design software does allll kinda boats,
even tunnel boat hulls.
http://boatdesign.net/software/
>The Bandwidth of reality is Wonderfully wide
Posted by:: John Cook
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 17:05:25 +1000
--------
König Prüße wrote:
> John Cook wrote:
>>subG are natural inventors
>>Sooo much to do - just got back from having a burger 'n beer at Magnem's
>>sidewalk - so I've done my babe watching for the day - better get to WORK.
>>
>>--
>>John Cook
> There're some fun softwares for sail and hull design.
> The sail designs you can print-out on a plotter for patterns
> to cut the sail parts.
> http://www.sailcut.com/
>
> The boat hull design software does allll kinda boats,
> even tunnel boat hulls.
> http://boatdesign.net/software/
hey! thank u - will investigate...
--
John Cook
The Bandwidth of reality is Wonderfully wide
Posted by:: König Prüße, GfbAEV
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 05:21:12 GMT
--------
John Cook wrote:
>
>Currently working on a hydrofoil self-adjust mechanism that Actually
>works. Have built one - it worked very well then broke - making a
>better one now. Learning how to make files for lazer cutting...
This stereolithography is nice, because you can model stuff in
formats like .dxf autocad or .3ds then convert it to .stl format with
3DMax--
http://www.stereolithography.com/
Posted by:: John Cook
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 17:12:13 +1000
--------
König Prüße wrote:
> John Cook wrote:
>>Currently working on a hydrofoil self-adjust mechanism that Actually
>>works. Have built one - it worked very well then broke - making a
>>better one now. Learning how to make files for lazer cutting...
> This stereolithography is nice, because you can model stuff in
> formats like .dxf autocad or .3ds then convert it to .stl format with
> 3DMax--
> http://www.stereolithography.com/
Are u talking about making 3d foil patterns as... - like Print to 3d?
Excellent!
I'm not making any wings just yet - the laser cutting is for mechanical
stuff in stainless steel - I'm using a section of helicopter roter as
the wing... It'll do for now.
Thanx again - if microsoft doesn't become a problem (I run Mac OSX) I am
rich(er) Wooo-Hooo!
--
John Cook
The Bandwidth of reality is Wonderfully wide
Posted by:: König Prüße, GfbAEV
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 08:00:52 GMT
--------
John Cook wrote:
>König Prüße wrote:
>> John Cook wrote:
>
>>>Currently working on a hydrofoil self-adjust mechanism that Actually
>>>works. Have built one - it worked very well then broke - making a
>>>better one now. Learning how to make files for lazer cutting...
>
>> This stereolithography is nice, because you can model stuff in
>> formats like .dxf autocad or .3ds then convert it to .stl format with
>> 3DMax--
>> http://www.stereolithography.com/
>
>Are u talking about making 3d foil patterns as... - like Print to 3d?
Well, autocad and the 3D modeling programs,
you can model in 3D--
So, what this stereolitho technology does is to take a
data file, and a box full of liquid epoxy, then from the
data file, a laser zips back and forth thru the liquid epoxy
selectively hardening it.
It's "rapid" prototyping because a lot of these fabricators,
if you send them the .stl data file, or .dxf, on Monday,
they will have the product back to you by Friday!
That would be either metal casting or plastics.