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splat123

Flysight beta update for voice glide ratio

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I've got a couple of new things for you all this weekend. First, there is an updated beta firmware available here:

http://flysight.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Latest_firmware

As usual, the update procedure is here:

http://flysight.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Firmware_upgrade

It's easiest to update on Windows XP/7. The update process on a Mac is oddly a bit more involved, but it is possible. At the moment, it's not possible to update on a Windows 8 machine without updating the FlySight's "bootloader"--something that can't usually be done in the field.

I think I've finally worked out all the glitches with speech (on all FlySights) and 10 Hz logging (on FlySights with SN 1247 and later). I did receive one report of someone who had "clipped" speech. This turned out to be a bad microSD card. If this happens to you, let me know and I'll send a replacement microSD card your way. As always, if you find any other issues please let me know.

There is also a new version of the cross-platform FlySight Viewer available:

http://flysight.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Cross-platform_FlySight_Viewer

This project started out as an experiment in rapid data analysis. The goal is to put as few barriers as possible between "questions" and "answers". If you can think of a way to do things with one fewer click or keystroke, or if you find yourself reaching for a pen and paper to figure something out, I'd love to hear about it.

The new viewer includes a couple of really awesome changes: A map view and synchronized video. These are both described in the link above.

Michael

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If you'll have it, a little suggestion... Would be good if somewhere in the GUI it could name the file that is open, so that it's easy to review a number of tracks without trying to remember which is it that you just viewed.

Probably not an issue for people that is organised, but me being a disaster i'm finding myself opening the same file(s) over and over trying to guess which is it that comes next.

Excellent program nonetheless!

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GoneCodFishing

If you'll have it, a little suggestion... Would be good if somewhere in the GUI it could name the file that is open, so that it's easy to review a number of tracks without trying to remember which is it that you just viewed.



Ah, nuts. That one's been on my mind for a while, too. I'm going to add the file name to the title bar like other applications do. Ditto for the video windows.

Michael

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za_skydiver

Im wondering if this voice glide ratio will work on my flysight. I bought mine when you just started selling them.



The speech modes should work on all FlySights. The only limitation with the older units is that they will only be able to record 5 Hz data rather than 10 Hz.

Michael

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za_skydiver

Do I use the default settings or are there some things i should change?



You'll need to configure it first. By default the beta firmware will only produce tones. Configuration information is here:

http://flysight.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Configuring_FlySight#Speech_Settings

Also, you can test the speech on the ground by changing "V_Thresh" in the configuration file to 0 instead of 1000. This will make it so the FlySight always produces tones--not just when you're in freefall. If you make this change and then turn the FlySight on, you should immediately hear tones and speech. You'll want to change the setting back to 1000 before your next jump, or it will be a long climb to altitude.

;) Michael

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crwper

***Do I use the default settings or are there some things i should change?



You'll need to configure it first. By default the beta firmware will only produce tones. Configuration information is here:

http://flysight.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Configuring_FlySight#Speech_Settings

Also, you can test the speech on the ground by changing "V_Thresh" in the configuration file to 0 instead of 1000. This will make it so the FlySight always produces tones--not just when you're in freefall. If you make this change and then turn the FlySight on, you should immediately hear tones and speech. You'll want to change the setting back to 1000 before your next jump, or it will be a long climb to altitude.

;) Michael

One thing that has proven useful in setup is to set for Horz mode, lower speed range and threshold, and then drive around in the car checking it out. Get it all figured out, get accustom to understanding what you are hearing, change to the mode and ranges you want to fly with AND then go fly it.
Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

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crwper

Alas, Windows 8 doesn't work with the firmware update. As it turns out, there's a bug in the Atmel bootloader (a bit of code that ships with the processor and is responsible for firmware update) that incorrectly identifies the interface as "USB 20.0" instead of "USB 2.00". Windows XP, Windows 7 and Mac don't seem to notice, but Windows 8 won't recognized the device.
l



Will an XP virtual machine (VMWare) under windows 8 work?

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crwper

I'm going to add the file name to the title bar like other applications do. Ditto for the video windows.

Michael



I've noticed that when reopening the window to import another track, the one that is already opened is selected, so for the purpose of opening tracks in order it works as a workaround.

i've used the viewer quite a bit now and it is excellent. Nice job and thank you.

Came across with what could be a bug (or my pc/flysight/sanity). It turns out that according to the viewer i've been doing halos all along and jumping from 25k ft. (same issue in the horizontal distance).

And with regards the scales, i know this is free software and not directly your business, so i feel bad for asking, but since "if you don't ask you don't get"...

How hard would it be for it to get the scales readjusted? The glide ratio at the moment goes from -2000:1 to 3000:1, and though there are some good flyers out there that is kind of overkill and it means that the normal bracket of 0:1 to 4:1 views only as a perfectly straight line. Then horizontal speed tops at about 100mph, whereas vertical tops at about 110, meaning that in a hard dive again it just show as a straight line at the top.

Zooming in with the scroll wheel changes the scales, but it has a very strange and seemingly random behavior (or i'm just thick) and units that should be linked like V and H speed go haywire and out of sync both in unit size and centering.

All said though, still an excellent piece of software which is coming in very useful :)

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nickfrey

Will an XP virtual machine (VMWare) under windows 8 work?



I don't think so. I've tried it with Hyper-V and VirtualBox and with various USB over ethernet solutions but I haven't tried with VMWare.

The problem is with Windows 8/8.1 loading the driver for the Flysight when the Flysight is in programming mode.

Because the Win 8 host can't load the driver you can't pass it through to the VM. If you have some software that passes the entire USB controller through to the VM you might have a chance.

Some sort of bootable DVD\USB stick with a different OS would probably be the easiest option.

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nickfrey

***Alas, Windows 8 doesn't work with the firmware update. As it turns out, there's a bug in the Atmel bootloader (a bit of code that ships with the processor and is responsible for firmware update) that incorrectly identifies the interface as "USB 20.0" instead of "USB 2.00". Windows XP, Windows 7 and Mac don't seem to notice, but Windows 8 won't recognized the device.
l



Will an XP virtual machine (VMWare) under windows 8 work?
What you can do if you have a Windows 8/8.1, is to create a bootable VHD file with a Windows 7 installed on it. Then you will basicly have a dualboot system. Advantage is that the VHD file runs directly on the hardware (so no emulator) so this should work around the problem. Disadvantage is that you will have to switch OS.

Not sure if this works on every version of Windows. I am a spoiled rat with Enterprise version :)

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Mentosfresh

Really enjoying the voice update. Feels like Ironman. You should make a female version of the audio files... with a hot accent :)



If you note there is an audio folder of the Flysight with the files for the spoken words. You could make your own voice files if you want to.
Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

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wstcstcmtr

If anyone is on a mac and feels like helping me out maybe we can set up a gchat/imessage intervention?



Yep... I'm working on a simplified update utility, but for the time being there is an ironic difficulty to updating on a Mac. Shoot me an email and I'll help you get up and running: michael at flysight dot ca.

dthames

If you note there is an audio folder of the Flysight with the files for the spoken words. You could make your own voice files if you want to.



I use "Audacity" to generate the files. The sample rate is 7812 Hz and they are uncompressed 8-bit WAV files. If there's significant interest, I can probably put together a page for the wiki describing how it's done.

Michael

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GoneCodFishing

How hard would it be for it to get the scales readjusted? The glide ratio at the moment goes from -2000:1 to 3000:1, and though there are some good flyers out there that is kind of overkill and it means that the normal bracket of 0:1 to 4:1 views only as a perfectly straight line. Then horizontal speed tops at about 100mph, whereas vertical tops at about 110, meaning that in a hard dive again it just show as a straight line at the top.

Zooming in with the scroll wheel changes the scales, but it has a very strange and seemingly random behavior (or i'm just thick) and units that should be linked like V and H speed go haywire and out of sync both in unit size and centering.



The scales automatically adjust to whatever data is currently in the plot view. Quite often this means the glide ratio scale will be huge if you're looking at the whole log because it includes, e.g., a short time when you're standing on the ground. Once you zoom in a bit, the minimum and maximum glide ratio are more sensible, and so are the scales.

I'm hesitant to add manual adjustment because it increases the complexity of the interface. However, if you have an idea of how this might be done without cluttering things, I'm all ears.

Michael

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A few options that may or may not be implementable. I know what sounds simple could be a real nightmare to produce...

As a starting point, there could be user defined default parameter scales under the preferences dialog, where you select your preferred "starting ranges", with the options to either enter a unit for Min and Max or chose "automatic scale" So for example one could select to always open the tracks with:

- Altitude: Automatically adjusted to max alt.
- GR: Min;0 Max;4 (for wingsuiters) or Min;0 Max;2 (for trackers)
- V Speed: Min;0 Max;120mph
- etc.

And then whenever you open a track that's the scale you get.

Then for in-GUI on the fly adjustments it could be that the topmost scale unit (if i open the viewer without importing, it would be the 4.8) could be clicked and it turns into a box where you can enter a value. You enter the new max unit for that parameter and that becomes the top range. Same thing for the bottom one (normally 0) to align the scales, and the same for the horizontal axis so that it can be scaled independently of the y axis.

Other option could be to simply 'pinch' the same top (or left) values of each parameter with the mouse and simply drag up or down (left/right for the x axis) to 'zoom in/out', or being able to pinch any of the values and then the zooming could be centered on the value you are dragging. Pinching and dragging the actual scale bar could simply allow to move said bar up and down to align it.

Or even, pinching on the parameter's legend (or a little icon after the ft/mph/etc), and dragging the mouse right/left could zoom in or out that parameter, whereas dragging up/down would move the whole bar and associated graph up/down.

Ah, and you know what would be awesome? Having an android version so that flysight data can be viewed anywhere/anytime with a rooted phone :)

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