We knew this year would be busy with the launch of the new System2 range, we just didn’t appreciate how busy it would be.
For the last quarter we wanted to release the Stall/Kato driver along with a 32 port input and a 32 port output board. We only managed the first.
This was because we rewrote a lot of the internal code on the Stall/Kato driver to make it more parametric. This means that by changing a few numbers we can automatically generate on the fly the number of input and output devices in both the web based (JavaScript) and back end (C++) code. This was a huge activity and we expect to reap the benefits of faster code development going forward.
In parallel we’ve been tweaking the hardware for the Servo-8 driver and have ended up reverting to our initial designs after testing. They along with plenty of other boards (see the increasing piles on my desk) just didn’t make the cut. That’s true for a lot of our products where only the third or fourth iteration actually makes it to release.
Pete Watermans Milton Keynes station is coming along with only 2 ½ weeks before we move it to Chester Cathedral. Making Tracks 3 Episode 12 goes live tomorrow evening at 5pm UK time. The eagle eyed amongst you may spot Phil doing on the fly adjustments to the installed System2 products.
One very useful feature is the CAN bus monitor, which Phil uses on his phone to wirelessly see the CAN bus data is flowing and the correct devices are reacting. In the video he explains how all three layouts (yes there are three separate layouts) are organized. This will become apparent after the Chester Cathedral exhibition where they will all be joined together for the first time at the Great Electric Train Show in Milton Keynes. Some stressful time for us ahead.
So I’m back in the workshop making both legacy and System2 boards in ever greater quantities and pushing development in parallel. I’m quite excited about the new stateless button mode. The first driver to support it is the System2 Stall/Kato driver and it will probably be the default mode for the 32 port input module when using push to make buttons. We’ll include all the previous modes as well and you’ll be able to select them as needed. We’ll update you more when we have something to share!