Anybody got any ideas? I know about the lasar guided sonar devices. But they are for when you are directly in front of a wall. I need a device that will give me a reading if I am at an angle to a wall. Anybody know of anything?
Part of me wants to ask "what's wrong with a tape measure", but obviously whatever you are doing requires more than that. What are you trying to do? -Bob Cunningham
We need to take measuremeants from the ground up to the bottom of a boat, from the outtermost edge down to the keel. Probably every 1" along the ground axis. We then want to upload the data from the tool into a software package. Don't ask me, I'm just following up a request from the engineer here... Thanks.
I've got one of those angle guages that you place on a wall, ceiling, drive shaft, etc. A needle in the guage rotates freely around a dial to indicate how far in degrees from plumb the surface is.
What kind of tolerances are you trying to hold??? My suggestion will probably be overkill, but if you are trying to do some sort of "scan" of the shape of the boat hull I would suggest you contact one of the below companies: http://www.faro.com/Default.asp http://www.edgetechnologyproducts.co.uk/AppBoat.htm More than likely you can find a local dealer that you can pay to do some contract inspection of your boat hull with one of these. Both companies offer contact and laser based measurement systems. Let me know if either of these are any help! good luck
It's for work. Load Rite wants to setup certain trailers for certain types of boats before we ship them out to the distributors. So we need to know the dimensions of the bottom of the hull so we can setup the rollers to the right height.
I would think the boat manufacturers would be more than willing to give you that information once you identify yourself and your intentions. Plan B- look at how the others trailer guys have set theirs up and use their R&D. Pick out the best points and call it yours.
What about this- http://tools.mainseek.com/P-B0000ALR30-Strait-Line-64030-Laser-Tape.html -Bob Cunningham
Dude -- Remember that aluminum boats will vary madly, and fiberglass boats aint perfectly mirror imaged side to side either -- your pads should have enough compression that the combination of builder's tolerance and your measurement tolerance will fall out in the wash. Scanning with a fancy robot arm, measuring by hand, whatever -- you're gonna get lines that aren't quite fair and don't quite match. So you'll have to do some manual massaging either way. If you want to go high-dollar, those digital measurement machines definitely rock. I was involved with a navy program many years back that used an early one -- pretty cool. Now they are used for cutting six-axis plugs for hull molds from construction models. Cool technology, but really not neccesary here, unless the ship you are trailering is a space shuttle. The simplest approach would be to get a lines plan, mould-loft offsets, or hull mold dimensions from the manufacturers. Some tend to be a little secretive about some of this, but I am certain agreements can be reched to protect their intests -- confidentiality agreements, etc. A perfectly realistic approach, if you have access to the hull but not any drawings, is to take the tape measure approach -- it generally works well enough. Set the boat up on level ground, level the chines, and start measuring. Just try to: 1) Set the boat level by measuring in the same location at the transom or chines. 2) Divide the hull into ten or so equal spacings (stations)longitudinally when taking measurements -- standard naval architectural practice. 3) Take a few extra points halfway between the stations at the bow, if needed to define this area further. 4) Take extra measurements at any steps or discontinuities. 5) Define the chines, the gunwhale, and the keel as precisely as possible. 6) Remember that aluminum boats will vary madly, and fiberglass boats aint perfectly mirror imaged side to side either -- your pads should have enough compression that the combination of builder's tolerance and your measurement tolerance will fall out in the wash. 7) Put the data in a computer, fair the lines as best you can, and go with it. The fourth and best option, of course, would be to hire me. Have calculator, will travel. -- Steve Hancock Naval Architect
Check out Leica Geosystems. Norcross, GA 770-447-6331. They make hand held laser distance measuring tools. Mike
