This table highlights the differences between the standalone version (basic) and the Enterprise version (full version). Functionality that is equal in both versions are not listed:

Please go to our download section to download to test this new version.

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The meeting is also an opportunity to meet other ShipWeight users in an informal setting for exchanging experiences and discussions on best practices. Last, but not least, it is a great opportunity to provide feedback to BAS Engineering as developers of ShipWeight and participate in making priorities for future development of the software.

Key Information

ShipWeight User Meeting – Tentative Schedule

May , 2019

We reserve the right to change the agenda.

The post ShipWeight North American User Meeting at SAWE 2019 appeared first on ShipWeight.

· Fast and early stage weight and CG estimation during design
· Structured monitoring and follow-up during construction
· Control of weight data in the company’s hand
· Control over and forecast for change orders

“Feedback from our users has, as always, been vital in developing this new version”, says Runar Aasen, the manager of BAS Engineering. “We are very fortunate and pleased to have a strong relationship with many of our customers and this is a driving force for new development of the software”.

Click here to read more about what’s new in ShipWeight 13

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ExpressMarine is a Rhino plug-in for fast and flexible modelling of ship structure for the calculation of structural weight and center of gravity. Starting out with a hull shape (and, if available, a general arrangement), the modelling process is of the vessel structure is carried out through the parametric definition of objects, which in turn are related to each other.

Objects are generated through algorithms and automation of repetitive tasks, making ExpressMarine an extremely fast modeler. The result is a dynamic and associative vessel topology that can handle changes without hassle and update the model rapidly and efficiently.

ExpressMarine lets the user assign weight group information to the model. The weight groups can be defined by volume areas for modules (or sections) or by assigning a weight group ID to the various objects types. In either case the weight and center of gravity information is calculated and summarized for the weight groups and can be exported to ShipWeight.

Please see the website ExpressMarine (www.expressmarine3d.com) for more information and download the trial version today!

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Fulcrum3D is a software tool that enables users to do “intelligent” imports from 3D CAD systems.

Check it out here – video #22. Contact us for more information about Fulcrum3D.

The post New ShipWeight tutorial video – Import of Fulcrum3D XML file appeared first on ShipWeight.

However, if not abused, statistics is a tool related to facts and stating a truth more than a lie. Furthermore, analyzing statistics can help us predict the future or estimate a value. There are many ways this can be done; perhaps the most typical one is to use a trend line graph set up by past data of whatever development you are studying, whether it is population growth or house prices, and use this to extend the line as a prophecy of the future (looking at the temperature drop these last weeks I can predict winter is coming).

To me, an even more fascinating property of statistics is often referred to as “The wisdom of the crowd.” If you are unfamiliar with the term I strongly recommend that you Google it; I promise you will find many interesting articles. “The wisdom of the crowd” principle is used for an incredible range of subjects, from capital management, business decisions, even politics, and – wait for it – it can also be used for weight estimation of a vessel!

The “wisdom of the crowd” can be explained by the following simple example: Put a jar full of jellybeans on a table. Let a random group of people each take a guess on how many beans are in the jar, and note down the answers. If you pick a random guess from one person and compare with the actual number of beans in the jar, chances are you will not be very close. But, here’s the interesting part: Take the average number of all the guesses and you will most likely be astounded at how close this will be to the true answer. Have a couple of thousand people guess and you’ll probably be spot on. The explanation is as simple as that for every one person guessing a number too low, there is a person guessing a number too high, and on average, they cancel each other’s errors. You’re just an internet search away from reading about actual studies and experiments that confirm this description.

So, how does this relate to weight estimation? Well, I’m not suggesting that you should line up thousands of people and have them all guess the weight of your ship (although that would be an interesting experiment), but there is a more practical and even better approach: By dividing your vessel into several weight groups and doing an estimate of each of them, you will in many ways obtain the same effect. Each weight group represents a ” person’s bean guess” and a higher than reality estimate in one weight group is most likely cancelled by a lower than reality estimate in another weight group.

Now you might object to this and say that even if we are talking about several different weight groups, the guess for each weight group is taken by the same person; and this person may very well have a tendency of leaning too low or too high for his guesses. Therefore the errors would be correlated, thus not giving the desired effect and ending up with a bad overall result. This is a valid objection; however, the estimation for each weight group should be derived from historical data – statistical facts – rather than “guesses” and the correlation between errors should be minimized this way.

To conclude: Divide your estimation into several weight groups to create your own “crowd” and use historical data to obtain uncorrelated “guesses” between the weight groups. Harvest the “wisdom” to get an accurate estimation of the weight and CG of your vessel. And ShipWeight is your software tool to get the job done efficiently.

PS: Another statistical method that is related to this is Lichtenberg’s Successive Principle, which I will discuss in a future blogpost.

The post Make Statistics Work for You – Part 1: Wisdom of the Crowd appeared first on ShipWeight.

Read more about the new version from the PDF below and download the installer from the download section of our website.

shipweightnavisworksmanualv1_50.pdf

The post Updated ShipWeight Navisworks Visualizer appeared first on ShipWeight.

Please click the Blog tab at the top and read our very first blog about Moment of Inertia for a Rotating Object.

We will post new articles regularly in this section.

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A more scientific definition of MOI can be put forth as: A measure of an object’s resistance to changes in its rotation rate. It is the rotational analog of mass.

A change in the rotation rate is also a change to the object’s acceleration. And this is where it gets interesting for a vessel as the MOI says something about the resistance to the vessel’s acceleration around its axes, or to put it very plainly: How “stiff” will the vessel act when it rolls, yaws and pitches.

Of course, there are other factors contributing to this “stiffness”, like hull shape, stability, anti-rolling tanks and so on – but the MOI is the object’s ” stiffness”-property as defined by the mass distribution of the object and not affected by the sea or other external forces.

Thus, the MOI of a vessel is core to being able to calculate seakeeping and sea motion for any vessel. But the task is not very straightforward, as an accurate calculation of the MOI is done by integrating the mass over its distribution, a task that even modern CAD tools will struggle with, even if the vessel is completely modelled in CAD at the point where the MOI values are needed (which rarely, if ever, happens).

This is where the parallel axis theorem (also known as Huygens-Steiner theorem) comes to the rescue. This theorem defines the transferred inertia of an object, meaning the inertia around a different (global) axis than the object’s own (local) axis. It is calculated by squaring the distance between the global and local axis and multiplying it with the object’s mass. The trick to calculate MOI for a vessel then becomes to divide it into several objects and summarize the transferred inertia for all objects as an approximation for the total vessel.

The accuracy of this method depends upon how many objects you divide the vessel into and how large these objects are. A further approximation to the accurate answer can be calculated by adding each of the object’s local inertia to the transferred inertia using the known formula for a solid cuboid as an approximation.

Solid cuboid of height h, width w, and depth d, and mass m

Solid cuboid inertia (source: en.wikipedia.org)

ShipWeight uses the parallel axis theorem, optionally combined with a user-input value of the object’s actual MOI or a solid cuboid approximation, to calculate the MOI of a vessel. How this is done can be seen in our tutorial video #8: Basic Additional Features, available on ShipWeight’s YouTube channel and on our website https://shipweight.com/videos

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The 11^th ShipWeight User Group meeting will be held in conjunction with the SAWE International Conference in May, 2017 in Montreal, Canada. We hope that you can attend the meeting and, in addition, benefit from all that the SAWE Conference has to offer, including training, technical presentations, standards and practices sessions, and the opportunity to meet and learn from others in the field of mass properties.

A draft agenda will be sent in future emails, but we’re always open to suggestions from attendees. This is your meeting, and we want you to get as much information out of it as possible to help you in your day-to-day work. Possible topic areas might include:

• How to use particular features in ShipWeight
• How to accomplish a particular task/workflow
• New features that you’d like to see in a future version

Please let us know what you’d like to have covered in the meeting.

This year, the User Group meeting will be broken into two sessions, with the first in the afternoon of Sunday, May 21^st and the second in the morning of Monday, May 22nd. This format will allow greater flexibility for those who would like to attend some of the other events being held during the SAWE International Conference.

The meeting will be of interest to active ShipWeight users as well as those who are considering acquiring it. Sunday’s session will focus on the new features and improvements in ShipWeight Version 12, and Monday’s session will explore some of the more advanced features in ShipWeight. Both sessions are intended to be interactive, with questions and discussion from the group.

The meeting is also an excellent opportunity to meet other ShipWeight users in an informal setting for exchanging experiences and discussions on best practices. Last, but not least, it is a great opportunity to provide feedback to BAS Engineering as developers of ShipWeight and participate in making priorities for future development of the software.

Hope to see you in Montreal!

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