racookpe1978
Nuclear
- Feb 1, 2007
- 5,984
I am a modest AuoCAD user, certainly not a pro nor a draftsman. I have used a former company's AutoCAD-based program and programming menu's to build parametric 3D objects, but that used the former company's proprietary software - which is no longer available.
Purpose: I need to illustrate the properties of light and the atmosphere, water and ice albedo's and solar elevation angles, energy transmitted and energy reflected for various days-of-the-year, at every hour of the day, for various latitudes. Got the data, know the solar elevation equations, have the data in spreadsheets. Near the north and south poles, the sun is above the horizon at various angles and elevations for up to 24 hours, and my data needs to be plotted for each hour (every 15 degrees around a circle with +x = north.) Or due south for Antarctica.
I'm plotting 24 cylinders for each of 36 different plots: 1 cylinder for each hour, each cylinder dia = an optical property or numeric value for that hour (percent of light transmitted for example) and the length equal to another property (thickness of atmosphere, amount of energy transmitted, albedo of water, or whatever.)
Origin of the cylinders is at 0,0,0 +z is "up" (towards the Polar Star), +x is midnight = 0.0 degrees, 1:00 am = -15 degrees HRA hour angle, etc. Solar elevation angle = SEA = in degrees up from the horizon.
By hand, I use the following sequence of commands - but I need to know how to use AutoCAD 2010 "regular" macro process to avoid doing it for every cylinder in every plot:
CYL <cr> [starts CYL command sequence]
0,0,0 <cr> [sets first point of the CYL]
D <cr> [for Diameter option]
(user enters diameter value)<cr>
A<cr> [set Axis endpoint option]
user enters length<-hour angle<SEA <cr>
Then repeat for the next Dia, length, hour angle, and solar elevation angle
I think it will be too complicated to try to automate everything right from Excel, but repeating every step every time isn't working either.
What is a better way?
Purpose: I need to illustrate the properties of light and the atmosphere, water and ice albedo's and solar elevation angles, energy transmitted and energy reflected for various days-of-the-year, at every hour of the day, for various latitudes. Got the data, know the solar elevation equations, have the data in spreadsheets. Near the north and south poles, the sun is above the horizon at various angles and elevations for up to 24 hours, and my data needs to be plotted for each hour (every 15 degrees around a circle with +x = north.) Or due south for Antarctica.
I'm plotting 24 cylinders for each of 36 different plots: 1 cylinder for each hour, each cylinder dia = an optical property or numeric value for that hour (percent of light transmitted for example) and the length equal to another property (thickness of atmosphere, amount of energy transmitted, albedo of water, or whatever.)
Origin of the cylinders is at 0,0,0 +z is "up" (towards the Polar Star), +x is midnight = 0.0 degrees, 1:00 am = -15 degrees HRA hour angle, etc. Solar elevation angle = SEA = in degrees up from the horizon.
By hand, I use the following sequence of commands - but I need to know how to use AutoCAD 2010 "regular" macro process to avoid doing it for every cylinder in every plot:
CYL <cr> [starts CYL command sequence]
0,0,0 <cr> [sets first point of the CYL]
D <cr> [for Diameter option]
(user enters diameter value)<cr>
A<cr> [set Axis endpoint option]
user enters length<-hour angle<SEA <cr>
Then repeat for the next Dia, length, hour angle, and solar elevation angle
I think it will be too complicated to try to automate everything right from Excel, but repeating every step every time isn't working either.
What is a better way?