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Orca3D will track Points of Interest (POI) as the model heels, trims, and sinks during a hydrostatics and stability calculation, and report each POI's height above the flotation plane. This feature can be very useful for determining when a downflooding point, such as a vent or cockpit corner, will become submerged. A POI does not necessarily correspond with a physical "point" or object in the model; it is simply a location in space, specified by X, Y, and Z coordinates.

 

Start the OrcaPointsOfInterest command to display the dialog where they are defined:

To enter a new POI, click Add, then in the Name field  enter a description of the POI. Enter the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the point. By checking the box in the Active column, you can determine whether the POI will be tracked and reported in the output. The POI's may be sorted by Name, X, Y, or Z by clicking on the column header.

If you wish to enter the coordinates of the POI by selecting a point in your model graphically, click on the "Place New..." button, and click on the appropriate location in your model. A new POI will be created in the list, and you will then be able to enter the Name for that point.

Depending on the orientation of the model and the direction of positive heel, you may wish to define the POI's on the negative side. For example, if positive X is aft, positive Y to starboard, and positive Z up, then positive heel angles will be to port. In this case, if you want to know when the POI's become submerged, enter negative Y values.