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    fimp

    @fimp

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    Latest posts made by fimp

    • RE: The $1000 Seastead Design Contest

      Hi,

      Jackson:

      @unknownuser said:

      The layout of the guywires (horizontally radial) in the downloaded skp model appear to differ from those of the image on your website (lateral).

      @unknownuser said:

      See images of radial cables in the skp model below.

      I don't see how they differ from the images on our website. Except if you mean the image of the sample design which differs only because the wires are attached to the vertical beams (which in turn connect to the spars) instead of connecting directly to the spars. This is an acceptable minor alteration of the design and, while practical in some cases, doesn't change any properties of the platform.

      Regarding your further engineering inquiry, unfortunately I cannot pass on all questions to our engineering team. I ask you to carry on the discussion in our forums where quite a few users have engineering knowledge.

      hebrides:

      @unknownuser said:

      I want to modify the model (move the cables) to accomodate my structure but need a few hints to hobble up something that is feasible.
      I would like to know what percentage of the total weight of the truss system is supported by the wires.

      In general, we don't allow modifications of the base platform unless they are minor cosmetic alterations. How much is minor? Can't tell you exactly unless you tell me exactly what you want to change, but anything that requires calculations like you want to do is definitely too much.

      • Lasse
      posted in Corner Bar
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      fimp
    • RE: The $1000 Seastead Design Contest

      Hi Jackson,

      @jackson said:

      The guywires in the skp model make it pretty much impossible to build anything on top of the trusses and lateral guywires (as in the image) make it extremely difficult to design anything other than a series of unconnected towers with fairly small footprints. Can you clarify please?

      Can you provide a screenshot of the horizontal radial wires? It sounds like an error but I don't see them anywhere.
      For an example of how a design can look without interfering too much with the lateral wires, take a look at the sample design: Images and SketchUp file (which is still being polished).

      @jackson said:

      Why aren't the supporting legs/columns at the corners? Not only would that create a much more stable structure, but the trusses would then form a square frame around the perimeter making it far easier to design an efficient layout for any added structures. After all, oil production platforms follow this format and they know more than anybody about living off-shore.

      I've never seen guywires used at this scale in above-surface marine structures (other than ships' masts of course). Guywires tend to be used to brace very slender structures which have high compressive strength, but little lateral rigidity. The pillars and trusses in the skp model however are extremely deep/broad in comparison to their length/height so it would seem more logical to provide the bracing in the form of rigid connections at their intersections. I'm no marine engineer, but it doesn't seem at all logical that the trusses aren't structurally connected to the columns other than (presumably) within the flat "raft" base. Why not design it as a single connected structure? If marine engineers did design it they appear to have gone against generally accepted practice in a number of rather inexplicable ways.

      I send your question to our staff and the marine engineering company, which made the design. Please see the following initial answer to your question from our staff:
      *"Putting the legs at the corners results in a larger span, that is, more cantilevering, and thus requires a bigger truss which wastes materials. Right now, the largest span is 200', which means the furthest cantilevering is 100'. If spars were at the corners there would be a 400' span and thus 200' cantilevering.

      As for wires vs. trusses, materials are generally more efficient in tension than compression. Hanging things saves on materials - see the work of Buckminster Fuller."*

      And more details from the engineering company:*"Semi-submersible columns are in general connected at the top (by beams under the deck, and at the bottom, using large pontoons. We're not, so increasing the separation makes it difficult for the structure to wistand the "hogging" and "sagging" modes due to wave loading. Moving structure outside the column also helps in distributing the load directly above the column center , and minimizing the offset moment, again because we only have one connection point.

      The cables are there to reduce weight and redistribute the weight again above the buoyancy.

      Why not design as a single structure? Mostly because it would be too large for most shipyards in the world, and we want the flexibility to use smaller fab yards, and improve economics, in the assembly and integration scenario.

      Lastly, this is not an oil and gas platform. The design basis requirements are different, and there is a coolness factor that needs to be included. We're trying to combine an more efficient structure, a larger footprint, an optimized payload, good motions, without increasing cost."*

      I hope this answers your questions satisfactory.

      posted in Corner Bar
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      fimp
    • RE: The $1000 Seastead Design Contest

      Hi Jackson,

      I don't have the expertise to answer your questions, but I'll make sure they are forwarded to the engineering company which designed the platform for us. When I have their reply, I'll post it here in the thread.

      • Lasse (which is dansk 😃
      posted in Corner Bar
      F
      fimp
    • RE: The $1000 Seastead Design Contest

      Hi,

      @unknownuser said:

      While you may not outright own the submitted models you and anyone else who wants to can appropriate the work for their own gain as long as they 'credit' the original creator.

      True. But it's worth noting that The Seasteading Institute is a nonprofit organisation so it's not like we are going to make money off your creation. And since the contest is about modeling a pretty unusual structure it is unlikely that anyone else than The Seasteading Institute wants to use it.

      @unknownuser said:

      Maybe Lasse can explain why they think they need the model.

      We require the model to be submitted because we expect we want to use it later. Might be for virtual tours, as part of a 3D city consisting of multiple platforms or real-life models. So much more can be done with the actual model than with just a set of images.

      The technical quality of the model is not important for the competition. The two main criteria are aesthetics and personality. Aesthetics in the sense of which model that is the most visually appealing and enticing. Personality as in showing the best sense of human influence or presence (people walking, smoke coming out of a chimney, a colorful sign in front of a business, etc.) But it must of course be a complete model and not only work from one angle.

      • Lasse
      posted in Corner Bar
      F
      fimp
    • RE: The $1000 Seastead Design Contest

      Hello,

      @double espresso said:

      Right. They own everything that is submitted.

      Actually, the opposite is true. The Seasteading Institute doesn't own submitted models. Nobody does. Entries are under the Creative Commons Attribution license which means anyone can copy and modify the models under the condition that the original creator, the contestant, is rightfully credited. This is very different from someone owning it.

      I haven't seen any contest involving a submitted product where the rights to the content aren't either given exclusively to the contest holder or is under a public domain license. We chose the latter.

      • Lasse
      posted in Corner Bar
      F
      fimp
    • The $1000 Seastead Design Contest

      Dear SketchUcators!

      We at the The Seasteading Institute (TSI) have just kicked off a $1,000 3-D modeling contest. It is a chance for you to design something quite unusual. An excerpt from the contest description:

      "The Seasteading Institute (TSI) is looking for creative and talented designers to construct a seastead using 3-D modeling software. A seastead is a floating platform that allows people to permanently settle the ocean as they do land. Professional naval engineers have already designed a bare platform. What you build on the platform is up to you. It may be a hospital, a casino, a residential community, a cricket stadium, or something entirely different. Be creative!

      Winning designs will be rewarded with cash prizes up to $1000, be featured on the TSI website, in our press materials (we’ve already been featured in Wired and on Slashdot), and on our merchandise."

      The deadline is May 1st, 2009.

      For a detailed list of prizes and official rules, please see: http://seasteading.org/interact/design-contest


      http://www.seasteading.org/files/contest_banner.jpg

      posted in Corner Bar
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      fimp