AO(N²) Brilliant Pebbles audible

[aonsquared 9]

Hi everyone,

We're a relatively new UK company making altimeters (we originally released the Tritium altimeter) and we've just released our new audible, Brilliant Pebbles.

It's the lowest-cost audible on the market during our special launch promotion for £65 (about US$83.50), but it's very accurate and easy to use.

Things are crazy and hectic right now due to the launch, but I'll do my best to answer questions here if you have any :)

link:
www.aon2.co.uk/brilliant_pebbles

[DougH 270]

At that price I will bite. Especially now that all L&B service is running through SSK.

These are in stock now correct? Confirm and I will hit add to cart.

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[aonsquared 9]

Yup they are in stock now. If you order they will be shipped within 24 hours, excluding weekends (because we're out jumping )

[aonsquared 9]

We've received your order, it's 9:30 in the evening in the UK now, so we'll send your audible first thing tomorrow morning. Thanks!

[sundevil777 102]

The use of the app to change settings instead of having buttons and display is BRILLIANT! Cost savings, eliminating sources of failure, and should mean a much better user interface.

Nicely done!

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[aonsquared 9]

Thanks :) some people still want to change altitudes at the flight line, but there's L&B for that.

Hopefully this will reduce the number of new jumpers being discouraged by the cost of getting into the sport

[GoneCodFishing 24]

The user manual isn't in the downloads page as pointed to...

Can you give us some more info?

As in, are the alarm tones all 'predetermined' or is it possible to configure extra tones? How many different tones come on it? Can you set different alarm volumes for different heights? Like having it full blast in the first lets say 3 alarms (freefall) and then not ear splitting volume for the next 2 or 3 (canopy) alarms? Does it even work under canopy or shuts off when vertical speeds go below a set speed?

Can any of the above be changed with the app? Up to and including the fall rate threshold for it to disable audible alarms (if it does disable them).

We need more details!

ETA: Just seen the answer to one of my questions in the FAQ'S

Quote

Does the audible have separate freefall and canopy modes?

At the time of writing of this manual, descent rate is not detected by the release version of the firmware. Alarms will be triggered at the set altitude, no matter what speed the wearer is going at.

Not sure i'd want to suffer the hard deck alarm going off on every canopy ride, specially if it is a "y'er gonna die" siren going off for ages, and if it isn't, well i wouldn't want to have a final "y'er gonna die" hard deck alarm that could be missed somewhat

[sundevil777 102]

It apparently doesn't interface with an iphone, correct?

Any prospect of that changing?

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[DougH 270]

GoneCodFishing

Not sure i'd want to suffer the hard deck alarm going off on every canopy ride, specially if it is a "y'er gonna die" siren going off for ages, and if it isn't, well i wouldn't want to have a final "y'er gonna die" hard deck alarm that could be missed somewhat

I saw that myself. I am hoping this will be addressed on a future update. I have to imagine this is possible, since the alarms aren't going off as you climb to altitude.

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[aonsquared 9]

We're still gathering data on what constitutes an emergency based on descent rates alone - how does it identify whether you're in a spinning malfunction or just having fun under canopy? If we went with freefall speeds, then it would miss the very common spinning canopy malfunction, wouldn't it? We don't want to add features that might only work sometimes, that would add a false sense of security.

We released with a very basic feature set because it's tried, tested and reliable. We can add features via firmware update later on, but we want to make sure it's polished and usable and not buggy, and most importantly, works every time.

[aonsquared 9]

Technically there's no barrier for it working with the iphone, as they're pretty much based on OSX which my personal laptop runs on.

However, Apple will never approve the app because it needs the iPhone to act as a USB host, which is banned for any iPhone accessory.

[GoneCodFishing 24]

Hence you allow the user to select the threshold speed. You got a zippy canopy and like to toggle-jockey? Set the threshold at Xm/s and you know that in a spinning mal you won't get a flatliner.

You'd rather have the beeper going off when spiraling for the benefit of having a hard deck alarm when under canopy? Set a lower threshold speed or disable the function altogether.

Personally, having an alarm going off in my ear for 10/15 seconds at full blast when i'm happily cruising towards the PLA enjoying the view would get old pretty quick

[aonsquared 9]

GoneCodFishing, that's actually an excellent suggestion!

We'll do some tests to see what a good default value is (our baseline of newly qualified skydivers) then of course if you're a canopy pilot you'll change the settings :)

Edit:
Can this be done in any other audible like L&B?

[DougH 270]

They do it based on some preset value.

In general open canopy flight on a moderate loaded canopy won't see off freefall alarms, but front riser turns or harness turns will.

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[aonsquared 9]

We've been gathering some raw pressure data from our jumps, so I'll post back here when we've worked something out :)

[mxk 1]

Is the hardware final or are you still actively working on it?

I didn't see a volume spec in the manual. Is it (or will it be) adjustable, and if so, what is the dB range?

A comment on the power off procedure. You may want to require multiple button presses, like an AAD and L&B audibles. It's hard to tell from the pictures whether the power button is recessed or not, but even if it is, something might hold it down for 5 seconds in the helmet.

The L&B Quattro manual describes the following algorithm for their freefall/canopy alarms:

Quote

1st warning: One 1.5 second pulsating alarm if vertical airspeed
exceeds 13 m/sec at preset altitude.

2nd warning: One 3 second pulsating alarm if vertical airspeed exceeds
13 m/ sec at preset altitude.

3rd warning: One 4 second pulsating alarm if vertical airspeed exceeds
13 m/sec at preset altitude.

4th warning: Siren alarm as long as vertical airspeed exceeds 13 m/
sec at or below the preset altitude.

After deployment the trigger speed switches to 35 m/sec.

In other words, they detect canopy deployment and then increase the threshold for the high-speed alarms from 30 mph to 78 mph (most common AAD firing threshold).

Remember that wingsuiters can fly in the 20-40 mph range and they still need their high-speed alarms to go off, including the low altitude "oh shit, time for plan B" alarm. Until you can reliably detect canopy deployment, I wouldn't rush to add this feature.

I like the overall concept. I'm a big fan of setting your audible once to altitudes where you typically don't need to do anything and using the same settings for all jumps. To me, an audible should just tell you what altitude you are at. It should not command a specific action, such as break-off or emergency procedures. Your brain should always be in the loop. Too many people do classical conditioning on themselves and then end up doing the wrong thing at the wrong time because they forgot to change settings from the previous jump.

[aonsquared 9]

The hardware is final, at least for the first batch. However, our electronics are actually capable of more than what we've released in the features, but as I said before, we'd rather have few reliable features than a lot of buggy ones.

If the button is held down for more than 2 seconds, the audible will start beeping so yes it's possible something in the helmet might press it long enough to turn it off, but at least you'll hear it!

dB range as we've measured is between 96-120 dB. Each tone has a different volume but you can easily test it through the app.

So looking at L&B values - if you're on a medium loaded canopy and you open with line twists, unless you exceed 78mph vertical speed your flatline won't get triggered? I can imagine a relatively new jumper getting too focused on clearing the twists and relying on a "flatline" feature rather than checking their alti and making decisions early...

Thanks for the information, it's very interesting.

[mxk 1]

aonsquared

So looking at L&B values - if you're on a medium loaded canopy and you open with line twists, unless you exceed 78mph vertical speed your flatline won't get triggered? I can imagine a relatively new jumper getting too focused on clearing the twists and relying on a "flatline" feature rather than checking their alti and making decisions early...

No, at that point the threshold would still be 30 mph and you'll get your high-speed alarms. I suspect that their canopy detection algorithm is something similar to what Airtec developed for the Wingsuit CYPRES:

Quote

If between the altitude of approx. 6500 feet (2000 meters) and approx. 1500 feet (450 meters) above ground level the WSC descends with less than approx 19 mph (8.5 m/s) but more than 5.6 mph (2.5 m/s) for more than 10 seconds (this duration can be altered. See chapter 4.4.6), then the WSC changes to Canopy Status with different activation criteria.

[councilman24 37]

What the hell, I haven't bought a toy for at least, hmmm, a week? You have my order.

There is a difference between line twists and a spinning canopy caused by line twists. I know it's too much to hope but people should know enough to get rid of the latter.

Any way. Lets see. I still want a new Time Out. Now that was simple. Actually bought a used one not long ago.

By the way no advertising in the forums. Expect to get kicked out to classifieds shortly.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[BigL 4]

I have a question. My quattro automatically turns on when going to height, does this audible offer that feature or do you need to turn it on before boarding the plane?

If I spiral under canopy past my hard deck with my quattro it usually goes off. Not a big deal in my opinion.

[aonsquared 9]

Does the Solo II have these features? Because that's what we looked at, we aren't really trying to compete with the Quattro or Pro Track.

[aonsquared 9]

Thanks - sorry about that, I'll start a new topic about audibles and canopy and not advertise if that happens :)

[aonsquared 9]

BigL, you use it like an AAD - you turn it on at the start of the jumping day and it will automatically turn off after 16 hours. No need to do anything else except plug it in to change altitudes or charge the battery.

[DonScott 0]

I saw on your website that there was an adapter for the kiss helmet. Is this necessary? Or will the adapters that come with the helmet work as well?

[aonsquared 9]

DonScott, the adapter is necessary. The shape of the audible is quite different from the L&B audibles. We've published the 3D files for free if you want to 3D print it yourself