HULL PLOTTING PROGRAM

For this project, done at Zentech Incorporated, I completed the scripting of three distinct programs that, together, plot the dimensions of a given ship hull, print these coordinates to a file, and create a detailed three dimensional mesh grid from these coordinates. The project was done on the Rhino platform and utilized Rhino’s python scripting interface. The input design is originally given in two dimensions, and both the aft and the forward plans of the ship’s hull can be used as the input design. The program takes a three dimensional version of this design and creates waterlines to assist in calculating equally spaced points along both the side shell and the base plate of the hull. The first program creates waterlines along the side shell at specified intervals below the bifurcation point. It also maps the base plate of the hull by creating lines that run parallel to the previously created waterlines. The second program finishes creating waterlines along the vertical axis of the ship’s hull, above the bifurcation point. The third program creates planes at different intervals that run perpendicular to the previously created waterlines and finds intersections between the two. These intersections accurately map the entire hull and each coordinate is printed out in a specified file of the user’s choosing. Finally, curves are fitted along these points to create a detailed three dimensional mesh grid of the hull.