Recording sailing results with OCR and IOS shortcuts

iPhone shortcuts and automation scripts are great to automate certain task. 

We are developing a script that helps race committees to record the finish time and sail number of a yacht by simply taking a picture when it crosses the line.

The IOS shortcut will prompt the user: 

1. To take a picture.
2. It will record the current date and time.
3. IOS inbuild OCR will extract any letters and numbers from the image. 
4. Select a specific sequence by matching 3 letters (country) and unlimited numbers followed by 1 letter if present.
5. Append the data to a Note file or add a line in sequence to a spread sheet.

This allows accurate time recording and sail number recognition in one swift sequence.

Lecture at CCYC Wednesday 14th of January

Foil pressure and turbulence

Searcher Ker 46 Leeway Angle research

We did some major research into a clients problems in light air performance. It was evident from recorded data that the yacht had excessive Leeway angles in lighter wind speed and in particular below 7kts. Modern yachts are depending on the keel and rudder surface to provide lift and rudder angles are critical to make the rudder provide that share of the total lift of the foils. After research it was apparent that the yacht had negative or neutral helm in the light and a balance problem. Increasing rake and moving the mast heel back should solve this problem and improve the performance.

Sydney Hobart '23

https://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker/

Merry Xmas

Carbon in construction & architecture

 

Cutting-edge computational technologies combined with constructional principles found in nature have enabled the development of a digital building system. The pavilion’s loadbearing structure is robotically produced from advanced fibre composites only. The resulting building is exceptionally lightweight and provides a distinctive spatial experience.

In biology most loadbearing structures are fibre composites, made from fibres such as cellulose, chitin or collagen, and a matrix material that supports them and maintains their relative position. The performance and resource efficiency of biological structures stems from these fibrous systems. Their organisation, directionality and density is finely tuned and locally varied, in order to ensure that material is only placed where it is required.

The BUGA Fibre Pavilion was designed to transfer this biological principle of load-adapted, highly-differentiated fibre- composite systems into an architecturally-conceived structure. Manmade composites, such as the glass- or carbon-fibre-reinforced plastics used here, share their fundamental characteristics with natural composites.

The pavilion covers an area of some  400 square metres and has a free span exceeding 23 metres. It is enclosed by a transparent, mechanically pre-stressed ETFE membrane.

The primary loadbearing structure is made from just 60 bespoke fibre composite components. Weighing 7.6 kilograms per square metre it is exceptionally lightweight, approximately five times lighter than a conventional steel structure. The elaborate testing procedures required for full approval showed that a single fibrous component can take up to 250 kN of compression force, which equals around 25 tonnes.

The black carbon filament bundles, wrapping around the translucent glass fibre lattice, create a stark contrast in texture. This architectural articulation is heightened by the gradation from sparser carbon filaments at the top towards their denser application on the slenderest components that meet the ground. The pavilion thus exposes its underlying design principles in an explicable, expressive manner.