Stability - Field Upgradeable Firmware - User Configurable UTC Offset among the major features
Mountain View, CA- February 1, 2012, Aubrey Calder, President and CEO of ACI, announced the release of Phase II software for the GPS Speedometer system. The system consists of the GPS Speedometer board and a GPS Sensor. When installed in a vehicle, the system provides the driver with very accurate time and speed of the vehicle. The GPS Speedometer was made for a market sector that needs additional speed measurement equipment onboard because the standard equipment can't meet their requirements. The GPS Speedometer has a maximum velocity limit of 1,148 MPH, far higher than what most car speedometers can read. If you've ever thought about strapping a few JATO rockets to your car, you need this speedometer to tell you how fast you're going before you lose consciousness. |
Below: The GPS Speedometer with the displays on. Time is shown on the top LCD, air pressure on the bottom. Dummy data is displayed on the 7 segment displays on the left, and simulated GPS signal strength is displayed on the dot matrix display. |
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Below: A standard GPS Speedometer system |
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Field Upgradeable
Phase II is the first release that will allow firmware upgradeability in field, performed by the user when Phase III software is available ('12Q2). Field upgradeability means bugs can be fixed very quickly, because the user can upgrade the firmware as soon as a fix is released. All GPS Speedometers are shipped with a DB-9 to 6 pin serial cable that is used to load new software. Client-side software is used to upload the software to the board, and the update is complete!
Stability - Like You've Never Seen It Before
Stability has greatly improved with the Phase II software release. Code was completely rewritten and rearchitected in order to deliver a much more stable product that will be much easier to add features in future releases. "The framework is in place to deliver game-changing features in the next two planned releases" says President Aubrey. This release was thoroughly tested in the lab. Gone are the days of the display going dark because the processor lost its mind. However, should the display go dark, Aubrey recommends turning the power switch off, then turn it back on, and everything should work fine.
UTC Offset Programmability
In the past, GPS Speedometer users had issues with the wrong hour being displayed after a change to Daylight Savings Time, or any time they left the Pacific Standard Time Zone. Phase II adds a new feature that will let the user take the GPS Speedometer to any time zone, and use it with local time. Users can now set their local offset (in whole hours only) simply by pressing and holding the joystick button for 2 seconds. After this time has elapsed, they can toggle up or down to change the hour. The UTC offset displays on the upper display, while the time continues to display on the lower display. Pressing and holding the joystick for two seconds returns the unit to normal mode.
Phase III and Beyond
Customers who have support contracts can send their GPS Speedometer back to the factory for the upgrade. In Phase III, the upgrade will no longer require returning the board. Phase III is the next release that will enable a rich new feature set and capabilites in the GPS Speedometer. Fast GPS Locks will be possible, resulting in very low Time To First Fix for the GPS Sensor. The LCD will also come alive and provide additional display capabilities.
