The Bench

9/17/2009

Works in progress

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— Dan @ 6:04 am on

So what’s new here at Ockam? A few things…

First, the new Vysion system has now been installed on a few boats. We’ve encountered some growing pains with these, but that’s the price to pay for bleeding-edge technology! We continue to improve the system, and all involved seem to be pretty happy with the results. I’ve even heard from other boats racing against the boats with the Vysion displays, and all remarks have been very positive. One person remarked that he could easily read the Vysion display on the boat… from another boat over 100 feet astern in direct sunlight! There’s even an example program that simulates the Vysion output that you can install here (please use Internet Explorer for this link) or download a zip file here for later use.

We continue to refine the DeWiggler program. There are many refinements for the program now. One major refinement is that there are many "flavors" of DeWiggler available. There is the original Analyst version, which requires collection of data to be sent to Ockam for analysis and report generation. This can produce corrections for compass, boat speed, and wind inputs. There is a sub-version of analyst that produces reports for just compass and boat speed, the test for which can be done under motor (no crew required). There is also an "instant gratification" version avaialble: DeWiggler Realtime. This version can produce corrections for all the same things as the Analyst version, except for Upwash Slope. These corrections are available immediately after running the tests. There is no human to judge the validity of data, so this test may not produce as good results as the Analyst version, but it is still much improved over the initial results that one can expect from a regular human-only calibration. Finally, there is now a tack analysis program available. This program analyzes the boat’s performance during tacks, and allows the crew to determine areas of inadequacy that might be addressed to improve racing performance.

Our 051L LANBridge continues to gain momentum. There are now several boats with this interface installed. Data input to a PC is much simpler, and now multiple computers can read the instrument data without the hassle of a distributing multiplexer! We have also been involved in some very advanced (for a boat) network architecture, and have created a telemetry system using a 051L LANBridge with some additional hardware. Can hacking another boat’s instrument system be too far off?

We are working on an updated version of the venerable 001 CPU. We were forced to twilight production of the popular CPU after many years of production due to difficulty in obtaining parts in reasonable quantities. Initially, we believed that the T1 CPU would adequately address demand for an Ockam system, as the T1 has easily outsold the 001 since its introduction. However, there is still the cadre of older boats with the 001 system that need support, and now many sport boats are looking for the performance of an Ockam system without the processing features of the T1. We are currently developing the new CPU, and are hopeful for a spring 2010 release.

We would love to hear from you if you have any questions or comments regarding these new developments… drop us a line!